Council cashes in on commission

•  The new booking system is up and running on the Blue Derby website.

By Daisy Baker
July 27, 2022

A new accommodation booking platform for Blue Derby is expected to raise $150,000 per year in commissions which will be used to fund the maintenance of the trail network.

The Council-managed service on the Blue Derby website is in competition with multinational booking organisations including Airbnb, Stayz and Bookings. com, which are estimated to get more than $250,000 in commissions each year.

The Blue Derby booking platform has been live for around three weeks and 14 properties are currently listed.

The initiative was a collaboration between the Blue Derby Foundation and Dorset Council.

Council passed a policy change at last week’s meeting which allows any financial contribution made to the trails, including booking commissions, sponsorships or donations to be offset against the varied waste management charge.

The varied waste charge for commercial properties in Derby, Winnaleah and Branxholm has been increased from $900 to $2,900 per property, in addition to the standard waste charge for all Dorset properties.

In a report for councillors, general manager Tim Watson said the increased charge was recommended to ensure the majority of

accommodation providers support the new booking platform.

“For those operators that list their property on the booking platform they will typically only require 60 booked nights to generate sufficient bookings commissions to fully offset the varied waste charge of $2,900,” he said.

With some Derby accommodation businesses tallying more than 300 nights per year, the fee will likely be fully offset in many instances.

Blue Derby Foundation chair Chris Cafe said the idea for the booking platform was born through the Foundation’s consultation with stakeholders in short-term accommodation.

“The Foundation was going to take it on but because we were new and didn’t have capacity, the Council offered to get it up and running,” he said.

“We fully support it because we would rather see that money going into trail development and community projects than overseas.

“Even though the Council is setting it all up, they’re accountable to the Foundation for the funds,” he said.

“It’s an open book between Council and us so we will know exactly what revenue is coming in and what it’s being spent on.

Mr Cafe said it would likely take around 18 months for it to reach its full potential, taking into account all of the current forward bookings.

It’s expected that the Blue Derby Foundation will take over managing the platform in the long-term.

Charges have also been dramatically increased for all other commercial properties in Bridport, Scottsdale, Tomahawk and any other Dorset location.

These charges have been increased from $120 to $1920, with the exception of those who already pay commercial rates, the difference is they do not have a Council run booking platform to fully offset that charge like Derby do.

Mayor Howard said instead Derby base

properties will be paying double the cents in the dollar rate on their AAV evaluations, increasing their annual rates to 10.48 percent while the rest of the region pay 5.24 percent.

“This waste charge is specifically aimed at Airbnbs as they create more rubbish.

“Airbnbs (A) create more rubbish and (B) normal bed and breakfast accommodation pay commercial rates whereas Airbnb pay residential rates even though they are run as commercial enterprise earning in most cases many tens of thousand dollars,” he said.

“If the Valuer General had done his job appropriately Airbnbs would have been assessed as commercial enterprises and been rated accordingly.”