East Iceland Hotel Owners Displeased With Airbnb Hostings

Hotel owners in Egilsstaðir have a number of objections to illegal guest accommodations offered in the town through Airbnb.

RÚV reports that while there are numerous registered hotels and guesthouses in Egilsstaðir, there are many more posts for accommodation in the town on Airbnb, many of them operating without a license.

“Here in the east, where we have very little winter tourism, it’s not really possible to share,” hotel owner Þráinn Lárusson told reporters. “For those of us who are trying to maintain a hotel with employees over the winter, it’s no joke.”

The municipality of Fljótsdalshérað, where Egilsstaðir is located, has already prepared a list of locations in the town posted on Airbnb that are operating guest accommodations without a license. These locations will have their real estate tax raised significantly.

After seeing an initial boom in the capital area, Airbnb postings in Iceland have appeared elsewhere in the countryside. The number of postings have risen to such a degree that the police have felt compelled to advise the general public on how not to get ripped off by such postings.