‘Beating heart’ of regional tourism

AIRBNB says it is helping drive tourism in regional Tasmania rather than being responsible for the rental crisis gripping the state.

Exclusive data released by the homesharing service to the

Mercury shows two-thirds of the state’s 5100 active Airbnb listings are outside Hobart and Launceston.

More than 50 per cent of the nights booked on the platform last financial year were in regional areas, with 170,200 overnight stays in country Tasmania compared with 150,800 in the state’s two biggest cities.

Regional Tasmania hosted more than 208,000 Airbnb guests across 71,200 trips in the year ending June 30 — 58 per cent of the state’s 358,500 Airbnb arrivals.

Hobart and Launceston greeted the remaining 150,000 visitors on almost 54,000 separate bookings.

“To date, the debate about homesharing has been Hobart-centric,” Airbnb Australia and New Zealand head of pub- lic policy Brent Thomas said.

“The reality is our community’s beating heart is regional Tasmania.

“The biggest winners from homesharing are working and middle-class families, small businesses and local communities in Tasmania’s regions.”

He said with Airbnb the benefits of tourism were shared with people and places that traditionally missed out.

“Every extra visitor staying at an Airbnb in a regional community is one more person eating in the local cafes, shopping in the local store or having a beer at the local pub,” Mr Thomas said.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said regional Tasmania was the backbone of people’s experiences regardless of whether it was in an Airbnb or with traditional accommodation providers.

“Our strategy is very much focused on regional areas — a visit to Tasmania is not just a visit to Hobart,” he said.

He said regional Tasmania had increased its share of overnight visitors in the last four years. Currently 67 per cent of visitor nights are spent outside Hobart.

Huon Valley host Lesley said Airbnb listings like her cottage helped pick up the slack during peak tourist season.

“In the summer months there’s often a shortage of visitor accommodation in the Huon Valley,” she said. “It brings people to the regions and provides them with a unique and individual experience.”

And she said the benefits flowed to the local community.

Airbnb management and hosts are set to give evidence at the Legislative Council Select Committee’s inquiry into short-stay accommodation later this week. The platform has come under fire for hurting hotels and housing affordability in the state’s capital.

In its submission, Airbnb said it was not a significant player in the local housing market and the number of entire home listings on the site booked for more than 180 days in 2017 was only 0.22 per cent of dwellings in Greater Hobart. jack.paynter@news.com.au