To ask the Minister for the Economy whether she will consider introducing legislation, similar to the Republic of Ireland’s Planning and Development Act 2024, which would require booking platforms to verify that listed properties are properly registered as short-term tourist accommodation.

Tourism NI’s powers to regulate the visitor accommodation sector are set out in the Tourism (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (“the 1992 Order”). These include enforcement powers for accommodation establishments which have not been certified.

Tourism NI engages regularly with representatives of the main online booking platforms, including Airbnb and Booking.com, to encourage them to align the properties listed on their sites with properties certified by Tourism NI in the relevant statutory categories of visitor accommodation. As a result of this engagement, local law disclosure information for the North has been added by Airbnb whilst booking.com highlight the certification requirement to local operators on their platform.

Tourism NI also routinely undertakes enforcement action against uncertified operators in accordance with the 1992 Order. There are 324 certified operators who were previously trading without a certificate as a result of Tourism NI engagement.

My Department and Tourism NI are reviewing the visitor accommodation certification scheme operated by Tourism NI. This will include consideration of whether any future legislative change is required, including with regard to enforcement powers.