Airbnb must stop holiday lets in Coronavirus lockdown, Liz Saville Roberts MP

Airbnb should not take any holiday let bookings during the ongoing Coronavirus lockdown, Plaid’s Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts MP has said.

The holiday let booking site is still hosting hundreds of adverts for rooms and homes across the UK, with many in picturesque parts of Wales. One recently removed post for a holiday let in Harlech, north Wales explicitly targeted “escapees from covid19 city”.

Ms Saville Roberts has contacted Airbnb to raise the issue.  

Concerns over the availability of healthcare facilities and medicine, as well as increasing community tensions, has led to calls from the Plaid Cymru MP.

Ms Saville Roberts has called for the site to refuse bookings ahead of the Easter weekend, which is expected by many to see a spike in people trying to visit the area.

Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

“The guidance is clear – stay in your primary residence or you are costing people their lives.

“By continuing to allow holiday lets, Airbnb are facilitating the dangerous and selfish behaviour of a small but significant number of people that are ignoring the advice.

“This multi-million-pound international company must immediately stop bookings during the crisis, particularly in the run-up to the Easter bank holiday weekend.

“Rural communities do not have the healthcare and medical supplies to cope with a huge influx in holidaymakers. Local people are increasingly concerned and angry, this simply cannot continue.  

“We want people to come and see our wonderful country, but just not now. Organisations like Airbnb should not be enabling this deeply irresponsible behaviour.

“This is not a national holiday, it’s a national emergency.”