Registering visitor accommodation: technical guidance - Meaning of visitor accommodation provider

A person will be a visitor accommodation provider, if in the course of trade or business that person: 

• provides, or offers to provide, visitor accommodation at premises in Wales, and 
• occupies the premises where visitor accommodation is provided 

Person can mean two or more people who are:

• in partnership together
• acting as unincorporated or incorporated body

A person provides visitor accommodation if they enter into a contract under which, or in consequence of which, one or more people are allowed to stay in the visitor accommodation at premises in Wales for at least one night. 

Example of providing visitor accommodation

Joan runs a bed and breakfast and owns the premises she runs her business from. She enters into contracts with guests for them to stay overnight at her bed and breakfast, which is classed as visitor accommodation. Joan is a visitor accommodation provider.  

A person offers to provide visitor accommodation if they are willing to enter into agreements with someone and allow them to stay at least one night in their premises in Wales and includes making others aware that their accommodation is available for stays. Agreements would include those made through online marketplaces, verbal agreements and bookings through other channels.

If a person is marketing or advertising their premises, whether it is on a website, social media, other online platform, in brochures, on shop noticeboards or elsewhere, and willing to enter into agreements for stays at their premises then they will be offering to provide visitor accommodation.

If a person is willing to accept future bookings, they too are offering to provide visitor accommodation.

Example of offering to provide visitor accommodation

Liam offers his spare room out on social media over busy holiday periods. As he markets his spare room on the internet, he meets test of offering to provide visitor accommodation.

An occupier of the premises will normally be a person who has control over the premises and how they are used, such as the running of the visitor accommodation business. They may also be responsible for complying with legal requirements relating to the premises and keeping it in good condition. It’s likely that an occupier will also receive profits from providing visitor accommodation at the premises.

An occupier might be, for example, a legal owner of the premises, a tenant under a lease, or a person with a right to occupy the premises under a licence to occupy.

An agent or management company who act on behalf of the visitor accommodation provider is unlikely to be an occupier of the premises.

Example of an occupier as premises owner

Mr Jones owns a Bed and Breakfast in South Wales and regularly has guests staying at his premises; his income comes from this business. He is the occupier of the bed and breakfast, enters into contracts with visitors allowing them to stay overnight and therefore he is a visitor accommodation provider.

Example of an occupier of rental premises

Margaret rents a flat in Cardiff. With permission from her landlord, she advertises her spare room for overnight stays for the purpose of leisure travel most weekends. She does this to add to her income. Margaret is the occupier of the flat and is offering to provide visitor accommodation, so she is a visitor accommodation provider.

Example of an occupier of holiday homes 

Norman and Grace are married. They own a farm and run the farming business in partnership with one another. They decided to diversify and built three holiday lodges on the farmland to supplement their income. They advertise the holiday lodges online, and they take bookings for overnight stays for 8 months of the year. They are visitor accommodation providers and will need to register with the WRA.

Contracts would usually include any bookings made at the premises through a booking platform, over the phone or directly with the visitor accommodation provider.

If a person is staying at the premises and is only there to provide services to the visitor accommodation provider then any:

• contract of service, or
• contract of apprenticeship, where apprentices are staying at the premises

will not count as a contract.

Contracts and entitlement 

Contracts would usually be formed at the point a booking is confirmed, whether that is through a booking platform, over the phone, through an online marketplace or directly with the visitor accommodation provider. 

Contracts, and how they are entered into, can be wide-ranging. The format of the contract is not important, only that a contract exists and it entitles one or more people to stay for one or more nights in or at the visitor accommodation. 

Exemptions to contracts

Contract does not include: 

• a contract of service 
• a contract of apprenticeship, or 
• a contract for services, under which a person entitled to reside in or at the visitor accommodation provides services to the visitor accommodation provider