An organisation that was launched to develop the booming holiday rental market has joined the group of industry representatives protesting against government policies.

The Bermuda Rental Association of Vacation Home Owners, or Bravo, which was set up to help owners with concerns such as regulation and market saturation, has said many of its members are deciding to delist their properties owing to unwanted fees imposed by the Government.

A spokeswoman for the group said that there was a lack of public consultation on the introduction of The Vacation Rental (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023 which was implemented on September 1.

Velda Franco, chairwoman of Bravo, penned a letter to David Burt, Vance Campbell, the tourism minister, this week requesting that enforcement against non-payment of the fees be put on hold until a workable outcome has been reached.

The letter, seen by this newspaper, said “As you are aware, for a number of years vacation rentals have provided significant capacity in terms of beds due to the absence of sufficient capacity provided by hotels.

“We have also helped carry the industry by providing high quality and affordable accommodation for leisure and business travellers.

“While some may be led to believe that the absence of consultation, in keeping with the judicial standards set for such, is indicative that you do not value our contribution to the island’s economic fabric, we do not subscribe to this view.

“We believe that the oversight of proper stakeholder engagement can be easily rectified going forward and that you will be an enthusiastic partner in resolving our concerns.”

The legislation sets an annual fee to rental property owners based on the property’s annual rental value.

Properties with an ARV below $22,800 will pay $1,500 annually, those valued between $22,801 to $90,000 will pay $2,000 – with a $2,500 yearly fee for property valued at $90,001 and above.

The letter outlined the group’s main concerns which start with lack of meaningful consultation with stakeholders by the Government ahead of implementation of the legislation.

Representatives of the farming, fishing and taxi industries, as well as education stakeholders, have been staging protests against government which started at Kindley Field last week and will continue in Hamilton this morning from 10am to 11pm.

Bravo has confirmed it will be participating in the protest. A third is being planned for the west end of the island in due course.

The letter to the Premier and minister also claims that the legislation does not “advance sound economic policy in that our vacation rental properties are now effectively being taxed three times by way of land tax, the Bermuda Tourism Authority Tax and this new fee”.

It continued: “Our data shows that the effect of this legislation will lead to unanticipated and damaging results for our tourism product”.

It also claims there had been no meaningful economic impact assessment saying that a “dislocation of the vacation rental market” will have a negative impact across the economy from transportation, airlift and restaurants to electricity and property maintenance services.

It added that the industry was still “reeling” from the effects of the pandemic.

The letter said the tax is regressive and puts a disproportionate financial burden on rental properties that generate lower incomes.

Furthermore, Bravo said that the fee is “discriminatory“ given that hotels are not subject to the same yet they use vacation rental sites to compete in the market.

The letter adds: “Several of the hotel properties that list rooms on vacation rental platforms hire foreign operators to manage this aspect of their business.

“So, while hotels are laden with concessions and pay overseas providers to compete with local hosts, Bermudians are burdened with additional fees.”

The letter makes a number of demands including the delayed enforcement, a willingness to engage in genuine consultation within a two-week period and a commitment to amend the legislation.

It concludes: “Imposing fees that make it more expensive for vacation rental operators to do business fails to recognise that continuing to make the island less affordable for overseas guests hurts us all.

“We know first hand that guests are choosing Bermuda vacation rentals because it allows them to enjoy high-quality service at affordable prices.

“This is reflected by the fact that Bermuda has the highest concentration of Airbnb ‘Superhost’ in any twenty-one square mile area.

“This does not speak to an industry that needs to be regulated, inspected or taxed indiscriminately, especially when those doing the inspections are not involved with the industry other than doing the inspections.”