In Whistler, Tourist Accommodation means the business of marketing or providing accommodation or lodging to paying guests, and includes hotel businesses, hostels, pensions, bed and breakfasts, campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks, and vacation rentals for any period of time.
Only certain properties in Whistler are zoned to allow for Tourist Accommodation.
If you are considering renting your property in Whistler on a temporary basis to tourists you need to make sure your property is zoned to allow paying guests. Otherwise, you will not be given a business license. Any property owner without the proper business license found marketing their home for paying guests will be ticketed and fined.
In Whistler, "residential" zoning means a fixed place of living, to which a person intends to return when absent. Regardless of the length of stay, renting a home on a temporary basis to tourists is not permitted in any residentially zoned area (RS1). To be rented to tourists for any time period, including stays of 30 days or longer, a property's zoning must state "tourist accommodation" as a permitted use.
