Smart City Policy Group hosts first short-term rental regulations summit

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 (SCPG). “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 created regulations for short-term rentals – often called vacation rentals and identified by the well-known industry brand, AirBnB. Concerns vary across cities, but the core complaints focus on tax remittance, housing and zoning impacts and noise and parties.
Led by SCPG 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.”

SCPG has ample experience in the short-term rental space. Founded by Matt Curtis, formerly the right-hand to several Austin mayors and Head of Global Affairs and Public Policy for HomeAway and Expedia, SCPG’s savvy and seasoned team delivers an unrivaled 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 US Travel Association’s Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations by one day, the summit will be held in the Austin Central Library.