Air BnB and fellow short-term accommodation providers are now at the mercy of Queenstown residents.

The council has approved a resolution to take draft regulations regarding visitor accommodation forward for public consultation.

Draft regulations which would put a 28-day restriction on short-term rentals instead of the current 90 days.

Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult said if it's an issue for his city, he can imagine it's an issue for other tourism areas as well.

"Probably we are the most affected area with 14 per cent of our housing stock on either Airbnb and Book a Bach compared to the national average of 1.2 per cent," he said.

While it will go to public consultation, Boult said the unanimous decision followed a lot of support voiced by residents.

"I think it is something that is generally in accordance with a majority of our community."

In an interview with Larry Williams, Air BnB's Australasian Policy Head Brent Thomas said it's a regressive move.

"This is really backwards stuff, dinosaur stuff, from what is a tourism town."