Representatives of HomeExchange, a home swapping platform, wrote to European Commission Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto and the Commissioner for Tourism, Apóstolos Tzitzikóstas, on Tuesday 7 April, to encourage them “to acknowledge non-commercial platforms such as HomeExchange as a distinct and positive model within the upcoming Strategy for Sustainable Tourism”.
“Clear recognition of such community-based approaches would support the EU’s broader objectives of sustainable mobility, territorial cohesion, and socially inclusive tourism”, they write ahead of the adoption of the European Strategy for Sustainable Tourism, scheduled for 2026.
HomeExchange enables people to exchange their homes for holidays without any monetary transaction. “Travel is based on reciprocity and a flat annual membership fee, rather than rental income. (...) As a result, the vast majority of homes on the platform, around 83%, are primary residences, meaning that homes remain part of the residential housing stock and are not removed from the long-term rental market”.
By relying on “existing housing rather than purpose-built tourist accommodation, this model avoids adding pressure on local housing markets”, the organisation argues.
It also calls on the European Commission to specify in this future strategy the policy direction for the forthcoming initiative on short-term rentals, announced as part of the ‘Housing’ plan. “In this context, it will be essential to clearly differentiate non-commercial platforms such as HomeExchange from monetised short-term rental activities”.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/lg8 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)