Airbnb Inc., a global house-sharing platform, has launched a campaign for the change to South Korea’s Tourism Promotion Act. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEJONG, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea said Wednesday that it will allow residents in urban areas to share their homes with local travelers as the government is pushing to give a boost to the sharing economy.
By revising the country’s Tourism Promotion Act, residents in urban areas can rent rooms in their houses to South Koreans for up to 180 days a year, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said.
A formal bill regulating house-sharing was submitted to the parliamentary committee on culture, sports and tourism in 2017, though no significant progress has been made yet.
Currently, residents in rural communities can share rooms in their homes with both South Koreans and foreigners, while South Koreans in urban areas can share rooms in their homes only with foreigners.
Airbnb Inc., a global house-sharing platform, has launched a campaign for the change to South Korea’s Tourism Promotion Act.
A total of 1.89 million tourists used Airbnb in Korea through 37,100 listings last year. Of them, 635,000, or 33.6 percent, were foreigners, according to the company.
(Yonhap)
