AUSTIN, TEXAS, June 2, 2019 - Smart City Policy Group will host a first-of-its-kind short-term rental regulations conference - Smart City Policy Summit - on August 16, in Austin, Texas. The summit will feature attendees from all sides of the short-term rental (STR) industry: city regulators, the travel industry and vacation rental managers.
“This has been a budget-crushing concern for cities around the world,” said Matt Curtis, CEO of Smart City Policy Group. “No city has achieved a reasonable level of compliance. Neighbors are screaming, travel leaders want obligated taxes, and rental operators are trying to understand confusing rules. We will bring all sides together to understand the evolving industry, traveler trends and solutions for compliance.”
In the past ten years more than one thousand cities in the United States have discussed, and created, regulations for short-term rentals - sometimes called vacation rentals and often identified by the well-known industry brand, AirBnB. Concerns vary from city to city but the core complaints focus on tax remittance, housing and zoning impacts, noise and parties and more.
Led by Smart City Policy Group CEO Matt Curtis, the summit will feature speakers who have worked on STR rulemaking from city government leaders, travel industry professionals and vacation rental managers. Attendees will learn about leading solutions for tax compliance, nuisance controls, quality of life and safety solutions and more.
“The summit will be the first and best opportunity for all sides to get together and learn from one another,” said Daniel Dozier, a travel industry consultant who works on new industry trends and is a featured speaker at the summit. “There are travel, city and short-term rental professionals who will work together to find real solutions to this problem.”
Smart City Policy Group has ample experience in the short-term rental space. Founded by Matt Curtis, former right-hand to several Austin mayors and more recently the Head Global Affairs and Public Policy for HomeAway and Expedia, SCPG’s savvy and seasoned team delivers an unrivalled depth and breadth of expertise.
"Matt is one of the best-known faces to mayors around the country,” said former mayor of Tigard, Oregon, John Cook, who served as president of the Oregon Mayors Association. “He is a long-time friend of the US Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities.”
Preceding the U.S. Travel Association’s Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations by one day, the summit will be held in the Austin Central Library, named by Time Magazine to be one of 2018’s World’s 100 Greatest Places.
For more information and to register for the summit, please visit www.SmartCityPolicySummit.com.
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About Smart City Policy Group
Smart City Policy was founded in 2017 by Matt Curtis to bridge the divide between the innovation economy and local government. From short-term rentals to ride-hailing apps to platform-powered personal shoppers, people are working, shopping, and traveling in fundamentally new ways, and local and state governments are struggling to adapt regulations. Smart City Policy works closely with both corporate and community leaders to collaborate on systems that deliver the broadest benefit to all stakeholders.