ADVOCACY is one of the pillars upon which our organization rests. On behalf of our members, we advocate:

• with local and state government bodies and agencies dealing with policy, permitting, and regulations affecting STRs
• with neighbors and civic organizations in highlighting the benefits of a healthy, well regulated STR presence in a community
• with the booking platforms, to ensure fair treatment for hosts and transparency in our mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship
• and finally amongst ourselves, as hosts, to encourage the highest level of professional excellence through our many educational and professional development programs.

What is Host2Host?

Host2Host is an Oregon-registered, non-profit 501(c)6 trade association. We seek to preserve and enhance the interests of short term rental hosts and the communities they serve.

We recognize that the short-term rental phenomenon has social consequences, and have developed best practices and regulatory guidance to assist hosts in contributing to the economic and social improvement of their communities.

Who is a member of Host2Host?

Our membership is open to all. We are focused on serving as a unified voice for the short term rental host community and connecting hosts with the local businesses who serve them and their guests. Although Oregon-focussed we welcome out-of-state members, who will find our on-line educational resources, meetups, regulatory and best practices documents, and business directory of considerable value. 

Portland-focused or statewide advocacy?

Host2Host has worked closely with Portland city government and booking platforms to craft ordinances and taxation structures that are improving the quality of short term rental offerings in Portland.

We provide revenue to support tourism and to help address the housing challenges that the city faces. Most of the taxes generated by short term rentals in Portland go to the Housing Fund.  Although we are not yet there, we are working towards tax equity so that short term rentals don’t continue paying higher taxes than hotels. 

Through our advocacy efforts, we want to work with other jurisdictions in the metro area and state-wide to help effect similar progress throughout the state.  We hope our process can be of use for members in any part of the country.

Join the Advocacy Committee today!

Responsibility

The Advocacy Committee is responsible for monitoring and responding to developments regarding short-term rental regulations. Members of this committee develop, comment on and advocate for public policies at state, federal, and local levels to support the agenda of the responsible short-term rental host. Responsible for connecting with state and local political groups, members of this committee are liaisons for Travel Portland. Primarily focused on the Portland metro area, the Advocacy Committee will also provide guidance to extra-regional advocacy groups as needed.

Helpful Skills

• Awareness of and monitoring of local and state-wide news related to short-term rentals.
• Ability to organize and convey complex information in a way that diverse or broad audiences can understand.
• Comfortable interacting with public officials.
• Interest in and comfort speaking publicly.
  

Time Commitment

• Expect to volunteer 1 - 3 hours per month depending upon state and local initiatives focused on short-term rentals and your capacity and interest in taking on additional projects.
• Meetings are held once-a-month on the 4th Tuesday at 5pm via Zoom.