With the flourishing Airbnb business in Sabah, there is a need for the operators to be regulated. A set of guidelines will be proper to monitor the Airbnb industry, said Special Tasks Minister Datuk Teo Chee Kang. The growth of Airbnb, among others, is due to the shortage of hotel rooms especially in Kota Kinabalu, which has a booming tourism industry.

The purpose of the regulations is to protect the safety of travellers who booked the accommodation online as well as to prevent the operations from causing nuisance to other apartments' owners, Teo said.

He believed it is crucial for property buyers to know the status of the project before signing the sales and purchase agreement.

For instance, if the property is designated under commercial zoning, thus the owners can convert it to an Airbnb.

"If not it will be quite unfair to purchasers" said Teo when welcoming a courtesy call from the Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM) Sabah Branch on Thursday.

During the meeting, the RISM committee members led by its chairman Raja Sundra Lingam @ Sunny Kelvin invited him to officiate at the 5th Sabah International Surveyors' Congress 2017, themed ‘Property Investment Breakthrough', on August 21-22 at Magellan Sutera Resort here.

The congress will be featuring 17 speakers, among others, they will discuss on the Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED), Airbnb, Kota Kinabalu City Hall's guideline for Airbnb, and high-rise building construction and green technology.