One million now use Airbnb properties

THE number of guests using Airbnb accommodation in Scotland rose 104 per cent to one million in the last year.

Guests have chosen from properties ranging from castles to period flats to boost visitor numbers, according to Airbnb’s first UK insights report.

Hosts earned £86million with the average host earning £3,600 a year from renting out space, hosting 38 nights a year for a typical listing. More than half of the guests (56 per cent) were international travellers visiting Scotland.

However, Scots represented the highest proportion of UK guests who chose to holiday in their own country.

The site connects visitors with accommodation around the world in more than 65,000 cities and over 191 countries.

Airbnb has 21,900 Scottish listings, with three of them among the UK’s top ten ‘wish-listed’ properties – Dairsie Castle in Fife, The Gatehouse to Ayton Castle in Eyemouth and a period flat in Edinburgh.

James McClure, general manager for Northern Europe, said: ‘The UK continues to break records on Airbnb as a worldleading destination, and for the benefits that hosting generates for communities.

‘There’s something for everyone on Airbnb and locals have helped countless global guests feel at home in the UK. Hosts are ambassadors for their neighbourhoods and we look forward to seeing guests discover more unique, diverse and welcoming communities across the UK.’

Airbnb estimates that hosts and guests generated £499million for the Scot economy between July 1, 2016 and July 1 this year.

Across the UK there were 5.9million guests, contributing an estimated £3.46billion to the nation’s economy.