The Ministry of Tourism (MITUR) published on May 20 the draft resolution establishing the mandatory registration of short-term vacation rentals and their hosts, with a 63-day period for public comment, which expires in two days
SANTO DOMINGO. – The short-term rental community, the sector directly affected by the Mitur resolution, did not learn about the process through that channel, but rather through an alert from the Airbnb platform.
“We had been following up for over a year and waiting for that draft to be published so we could review it, but we didn’t receive any formal notification. We also didn’t see any press coverage, so many of us in the sector were unaware of it,” said Yahaira Sosa, leader of the Dominican Association of Short-Term Investors (ADORECO).
According to Sosa, most owners, administrators, and operators only became aware of the text when the platform issued an internal alert and called a meeting with the host community just this week.
The result: instead of the 63 days formally available, the sector had only four days left to read an extensive text, fourteen articles with technical definitions, documentary requirements and sanctioning regime, coordinate a joint position among thousands of owners and operators, and submit observations before the closing date of Tuesday, July 22.
The consultation is based on Article 22 of Law 167-21, on Regulatory Improvement and Simplification of Procedures, which establishes public consultation as a requirement for regulatory proposals.
The official announcement stated that the documentation was available on the ministry's transparency portal and that comments could be submitted by mail or in person. However, according to Sosa, the formal availability of the document on a website did not, in practice, mean that stakeholders in the sector were aware of its existence.
“We were all a bit lost,” Sosa said. The sequence of events—a draft published without direct notice to stakeholders, a lack of media coverage, and a private platform assuming the role of notifying the sector—leaves open the question of how effective the public consultation mechanism was in real terms, beyond its formal compliance.
ADORECO has already sent a statement to MITUR requesting an extension of the deadline and the opening of a technical dialogue table with the sector; that statement was published this week in El Inmobiliario.
Recommended readings:
- ADORECO asks the Ministry of Tourism to extend the public consultation on short-term rental regulations and warns of risks to the sector
- Study highlights the impact of short-term rentals in the country
- Expert suggests the government create a license for the operation of short-term rental properties in the country
