Airbnb says its community contributed €10M to region
Airbnb, the world’s leading community driven hospitality company, said its community contributed an estimated €10 million to the South East in the past last year. The figure was released at the the launch of a report highlighting the positive social and economic impact of the Airbnb community on regional and rural Ireland. The report, entitled ‘Home-Sharing: Empowering Regional & Rural Ireland,’ was launched by Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys last week. It shows that the Airbnb community contributed an estimated €10 million to the South East, which includes Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford, in the last year. The report is an analysis of all travel to, and within, regional and rural Ireland outside of Dublin, from September 2015 through to August 2016. Airbnb said its communities are seeing benefits from Airbnb, particularly in the regions and rural Ireland, through tourism and economic development in places where alternative accommodation is not available. Equally by hosting on Airbnb, individual households are able to generate a little extra income to help make ends meet. With hosts sharing their homes in villages all over Ireland, Airbnb guests can travel more widely than those who chose to stay in hotels. Outside of Dublin, many rural communities shrink outside of traditional holiday periods, as holiday homes are closed for the winter. This latent asset and potential is being harnessed to continue to use those properties for shortterm Airbnb holiday rentals, helping keep those communities vibrant. This is supporting a longer tourist season and delivering positive economic impact by supporting existing businesses and the development of new, micro-businesses in food, craft, hospitality and culture. Some highlights of the report include: * There were 28,000 inbound guests to the South East region in the past year staying an average of 2.5 nights each visiting for holiday and leisure. * In the last year, 600 hosts in the South East earned an average additional income of €2,300 per household. * 44 percent of hosts in the regional and rural report said that they are using the income to make ends meet.