Coronavirus: Airbnb bookings soar, as holidaymakers stay close to home

Airbnb data has revealed soaring same-state bookings as travellers itching to escape social distancing restrictions explore their own backyard.

Air BnB Host Libby Murphy with Wally the Groodle at her property 'Studio the Hills' in Cooroy, Noosa Hinterland. Picture: Lachie Millard

The number of holidaymakers taking trips in their own state has exploded as COVID-19 restrictions ease in some parts of the country even though international borders remaining closed.

Exclusive Airbnb data has revealed that same-state bookings across Australia have soared, as travellers itching to escape social distancing restrictions explore their own backyard.

PDF: Same-state bookings from 2019 to 2020

With international travel off-limits for the foreseeable future, holidayers across the nation are travelling closer to home, with same-state bookings on the ­holiday-rental website up by 58 per cent in June compared with the same month last year.

The data from Airbnb, exclusively obtained by The Australian, reveals that after months of social distancing restrictions, people are supporting struggling tourist spots, so much so that Australian domestic bookings for the entirety of June were up 16 per cent on pre-COVID levels for the same period last year.

Noosa “superhost” Libby Murphy, 66, said she was booked out until the end of August, after seeing bookings balloon by about 40 per cent since the beginning of COVID-19. “While I usually had young couples from Brisbane trying to stay, now I’ve got a different market of guests who tell me they just need to escape the city,” she said. “The winter holidays are always busy, but with so many ­people staying, I’ve had to block out the property for a while so my family can come to stay.”

While Airbnb’s intrastate bookings across the eastern seaboard jumped markedly in June — up 62 per cent and 61 per cent in Queensland and NSW respectively — these figures paled compared with states and territories that eradicated the virus early.

When compared with June last year, same-state domestic bookings in Tasmania were up 106 per cent; across the Nullarbor, intrastate bookings in West Australia were up 100 per cent.

These were closely followed by the Northern Territory, which was 97 per cent higher, and South Australia, up 95 per cent.

Susan Wheeldon, Airbnb’s country manager for Australia, said the figures were “very encouraging early signs”, and despite the border closures, some areas — such as Margaret River in Western Australia and Noosa in Queensland — were seeing hordes of intrastate tourists.

“We’ve seen Aussies really embrace domestic travel – particularly within their own state … While these are uncertain times, it’s been heartening to see people hit the road and support local businesses in areas that have been doing it tough,” she said.

While June bookings in Victoria were up 34 per cent compared with last year, Ms Wheeldon said the company had seen a “dramatic decline” in bookings since stage three restrictions were reimposed in Melbourne.

While she thinks tourism will change for the better from this ­period, for Ms Murphy, the coronavirus lockdown has turned her supplementary income into a “nice little business”.