Revenues would be used to fund the Maine Department of Education.

A bill introduced into the Maine House - LD 225 (HP 148) - by Rep. Michael Brennan (D-Portland) with numerous cosponsors would create an additional 3% lodging tax - on top of the current 9% - with the proceeds going to the Maine Department of Education to fund school construction and K-12 education.

The new tax would become effective 1 January 2026.

Per the title of this Bill, one purpose is to "reduce property taxes," but it's not clear how that would necessarily come about.

At 12%, Maine's state lodging tax rate would be second-highest in the US.

And at least in part for reasons related to the US economy, visitation to Maine was down by 9% year-on-year in the summer of 2024.

Because a higher lodging tax rate puts Maine lodging places at a competitive disadvantage to other destinations, the Maine Tourism Association opposes this legislation.

Bar Harbor transient accommodations development on hold until at least 7 March 2025

At a special meeting held yesterday, the Bar Harbor Town Council voted 6-1 to extend for at least 60 days the Emergency Transient Accommodations Moratorium they had first enacted in November 2024. The moratorium puts on hold any new hotel, motel, campground, b&b and short-term rental (e.g., Airbnb) projects in order to give town officials sufficient time to study impacts on traffic, water, sewer and permanent housing. The moratorium applies to any projects that were incomplete and currently in progress as of 19 November 2024. Although included in an initial proposal, owner-occupied vacation rentals are exempted from the moratorium.

Airbnb reopens to new Experience listings

A company spokesperson confirmed the reopening in a statement saying in part:

“Our aim is to provide guests with a diverse, unique selection of experiences that authentically reflect the culture and community of cities around the world.”

Experiences were first added to the Airbnb platform in 2022, and hyped as an area of "major investment" for the company, but new listings were then paused in 2023. Next, in April this year, Airbnb introduced its "Icons" hybrid tour/lodging product, followed in May by the announcement of its intent to remove thousands of experience listings for not meeting Airbnb standards. And in August, CEO Brian Chesky announced that Experiences would be returning in 2025 as a cross-sell product with lodging.

There's wide speculation about why Experiences may have been brought back ahead of schedule, but Airbnb isn't talking.

Problems identified by Airbnb with the initial Experiences initiative have included high costs, lack of exclusivity and difficulty in scaling, but hosts have complained about poor support on the part of Airbnb.

Why is a product with so much potential having so much difficulty getting traction? Stay tuned for updates.

Boston hotel workers vote to authorize strike

Members of UNITE HERE Local 26 - the union that represents hotel, food service, casino and airport workers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island - have voted to begin a strike against Boston's hotels on 1 September if a new contract cannot be agreed upon before then.

Strike would involve 4500 housekeepers, front-desk personnel, bell- and door-persons, restaurant servers, bartenders, cooks and dishwashers at 35 hotel properties.

Bargaining over a new contract has been ongoing since April, but is now at a standstill.

Local 26 wants more new hires, higher wages and better benefits for its members.

A hotel spokesperson said owners "remain optimistic that a mutually beneficial agreement can be reached without a strike."

Will Boston lodging grind to a halt just in time for Labor Day weekend? Stay tuned.

Springfield MA Named Top-10 Worst US City to Own Vacation Rental

A new report from LawnStarter - a lawn-care marketplace, which presumably deals with a lot of vacation rental properties - names Springfield, MA as the #6 worst US city in which to own a vacation rental property.

LawnStarter rated 182 of the largest US cities on 18 dimensions including:

• Legal restrictions
• Occupancy rates
• Revenue potential
• Operating expenses

Ten cities found to be the worst in which to own a vacation rental were:

1. Huntington Beach, CA
2. Sunnyvale, CA
3. Pasadena, CA
4. Des Moines, IA
5. San Francisco, CA
6. Springfield, MA
7. Long Beach, CA
8. Palmdale, CA
9. Santa Rosa, CA
10. Los Angeles, CA

80% of these cities being in California stems primarily from high investment and operating costs coupled with laws that incentivize long-term rentals and home ownership at the expense of short-term rentals.

Nationwide, some Airbnb hosts reported major decreases in occupancy rates and margins, perhaps related at least in part to a shift of consumer preference back to hotels in light of widespread media reports of hidden cameras and excessive guest rules and chore-lists.