Aug.27.2020.Shanghai,
The Airbnb community supported more than 920,000 jobs in the Asia-Pacific region in 2019 and could play a critical role in tourism's recovery, according to a new report by Oxford Economics which released recently.
The Economic Impact of Airbnb in APAC, explored the total economic impact of Airbnb across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region between 2015 and 2019. The landmark report, commissioned by Airbnb, utilized both Airbnb aggregated data and the Oxford Economics Global Economic Impact Model to generate detailed economic modeling.
In 2019 alone, the Airbnb community contributed more than $22.7 billion to the Asia-Pacific's economy and supported more than 925,600 jobs, including 161,000 jobs in the Philippines, 113,000 jobs in Thailand and 82,000 jobs in Vietnam. For every 100 Airbnb listings in Asia-Pacific, 101 jobs were supported in 2019.
The growth of the Airbnb community is also spreading the benefits of tourism across the entire region. The growth in guests staying on Airbnb was fastest in the ASEAN-6 countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.
In Thailand, the report found that prior to COVID-19, Airbnb had become a key pillar of tourism industry, driving economic impact and creating opportunities for families, small businesses and communities that benefit from short-term rentals.
The report also highlighted the positive impact of Airbnb guest spending on local communities as Airbnb spreads the benefits of tourism. Between 2015 and 2019, Airbnb guests spent a total of THB150 billion in Thailand, growing at an annual rate of 54.8%. In 2019, Airbnb guests spent over THB19.6 billion in local restaurants and shops, and for every THB1,000 spent on Airbnb, a further THB420 was spent with local businesses.
The report reinforced that Airbnb was spreading the benefits of tourism to communities off-the-beaten track, with more than nine percent of guest spending incurred outside key cities in 2019.
“While this report looks back at the recent past, we believe it offers timely insights for the future. The report confirms that Airbnb is a proven and powerful engine of economic growth and job creation in APAC,” said Mike Orgill, APAC Director of Public Policy at Airbnb.
“The local, authentic and sustainable travel experiences offered by our community could be a valuable tool for governments looking to kickstart the tourism industry’s recovery. We want to work hand in hand with local governments, businesses and communities to help tourism recover as quickly and strongly as possible.”
Airbnb also recently launched Go Near, a new campaign to support domestic travel, that aims to help restore travel in a responsible way that benefits local families, businesses and communities. As part of the initiative, Airbnb is working closely with governments and destination marketing organizations sharing travel trends and local data, providing marketing support, and leveraging Airbnb Experiences to create new, unique ways for guests to explore destinations.