South’s Airbnb listings triple in three years

More Southlanders are opting to become accommodation providers, as shown by the region’s Airbnb listings which have almost tripled in the past three years.

Great South’s general manager of tourism and events, Bobbi Brown, said the regional development and tourism agency’s data showed there were 873 Southland-based listings on Airbnb, compared with 300 in January 2017.

Brown believed it was a positive change for tourism in the region.

‘‘It is enabling people to stay in the region and spend ... We have to acknowledge that people like this type of accommodation.’’

An Invercargill City Council spokesperson said that while the council had explored regulatory options for Airbnb listings in the past three years, elected members did not have a desire to look any further into the matter at this time.

The Southland District Council’s team leader of resource management, Marcus Roy, said the council allowed visitor accommodation for up to five people as a permitted activity without the need for a planning consent.

‘‘Guest numbers above that threshold would require a resource consent and change of use under the Building Act.’’

Property owner Blair Davies said he listed his beachfront house in Riverton on Airbnb after the website was recommended to him by a real estate agent when he bought the property.

He had since been inundated with people wanting to stay there.

‘‘Now from October through to March all the weekends are nearly booked out.’’

Blair Davies Riverton property owner

‘‘I’ve had it [listed on Airbnb] for two years on Waitangi Day,’’ he said. ‘‘The first year was a little bit slow . . . Now from October through to March all the weekends are nearly booked out.’’

He had already been asked about Christmas and New Year’s Eve bookings but had to turn people down in case he wanted to use the property himself.

Many property owners were signing up to Airbnb because there were not many commercial accommodation providers in Riverton and it was a great way to get some extra cash, he said.

Davies’ home had three bedrooms and he charged $150 a night.

His property was also listed on Bookabach, and he said that website had also grown a lot since he first signed up to it.

‘‘When we signed up, we were about the seventh property. Now I reckon there’s 15 to 20 properties [listed].’’

Most bookings were from people in Wa¯ naka, Queenstown, Te Anau and Dunedin, he said.

Julie Dykes, who has been listing her Riverton property on Airbnb for two years, said she believed there had been a major increase in the number of Airbnbs in the area.

‘‘It’s getting more and more busy . . . There are so many more on there than when we first started.’’

Dykes loved that she could share her property with other people and they were able to spend time exploring what Riverton had to offer.

Because her property was often booked out, she was also able to travel to other places to explore more, she said.