Airbnb injected $38 million into SA economy in 2015-16: Deloitte research

Airbnb injected $38 million into SA economy in 2015-16: Deloitte research
Prateek ChatterjeeDecember 7, 2020

South Australia’s economy got a $38 million economic boost from Airbnb in the 2016 financial year, with guests on the shared accommodation platform spending more than the average tourist, according to research from Deloitte Access Economics.

The report noted that 64,100 guests were booked in for 109,000 nights in Adelaide and regional towns across the state through Airbnb. The spurt to tourism supported more than 400 jobs in addition to the activities of hosts. 

Airbnb guests contributed $38 million to South Australia’s economy (Gross State Product) in the in 2015-16 financial year, according to the report titled Economic effects of Airbnb in Australia, South Australia. 

Survey data showed that its guests spend more than the average tourist, with Airbnb guests spending $237 per night on average, and general overnight visitors spending $146 per night.

The report noted that one of the drivers of Airbnb growth has been creating lower cost accommodation options.

“We estimate a cost saving of around $26 million in 2015-16 for guests staying in Sydney who might otherwise have stayed in traditional accommodation,” said the report’s authors.

Click to enlarge

 

Hosts in the state earned a median income of $4390 for the 12-month period, it said.

And the platform seems to be ever popular, with the average star rating for Airbnb listings across South Australia being 4.7 out of 5.

And its popularity is not limited to cities. A recent survey released by the peer-to-peer accommodation platform showed that more than half of its bookings in Australia are now for stays in country towns or coastal ­resorts.

Since launching in 2012, Airbnb has facilitated over 1.3 million short stays in Australian cities and more than 150 million guests, including over 2.5 million Australian guests, are currently on the platform, it said.

The report said Airbnb can also assist the government in meeting another key objective of Tourism 2020 – increasing overnight spend to $140 billion by 2020. As at February 2017, tourism expenditure had tracked 38 per cent towards the upper bound Tourism 2020 goal.

Tags:
Airbnb

Editor's Picks