A south-west real estate agency is working on providing more short-term rentals for people attending Warrnambool's May Racing Carnival due to accommodation booking out a year in advance.
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The role was traditionally done by Warrnambool City Council, which vetted thousands of requests for accommodation in the city for the major event, which runs from May 2 to 4, through its visitor information centre.
It now refers visitors to the newly created Warrnambool and District Holiday rentals, an online register run by Wilsons Warrnambool and District Real Estate.
A council spokesman said the information centre traditionally provided recommendations for registered accommodation and online platforms.
"The visitor information centre no longer carries a list of private residences that owners wish to rent out during events such as the May Racing Carnival," he said.
"This practice has been problematic in the past because there is little protection for either the guest or property owner in terms of insurance.
"There is no feedback provided to the (visitor information centre) as to whether these properties have been booked or are still available and there is no mechanism for documenting the quality of the customer experience."
Wilsons Warrnambool and District Real Estate holiday rentals manager Luke McQualter said each of its properties available during the races were already booked out.
"I'm working on at least 10 extra properties to get up which I anticipate will get booked out very quickly," he said.
Former Warrnambool Racing Club chief executive Tom O'Connor, who handed in his resignation last week, said the lack of accommodation available was a challenge each year.
He said the short term accommodation market changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's a full circle to re-establish confidence and continuity of events running without any hindrance so we've got to look at other unique ways to ensure there's safe accommodation for people to come to Warrnambool."
The Standard last month reported accommodation services had wait lists of least 20 people as punters rushed to book a place to stay.
Warrnambool Best Western Olde Maritime Motel owner Raj Patel said between 30 and 40 people were on its waiting list, compared with between 10 and 20 in previous years. He said some customers booked their accommodation a year in advance.
"About 90 per cent have been doing that for about 10 years," Mr Patel said.
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Lillian Altman
Lillian is an experienced journalist who joined Warrnambool Standard in late 2021. She has a particular interest in writing stories on the arts and culture, health, education, breaking news, police stories, as well as human interest and profiles.
Lillian is an experienced journalist who joined Warrnambool Standard in late 2021. She has a particular interest in writing stories on the arts and culture, health, education, breaking news, police stories, as well as human interest and profiles.
