Airbnb guests spend big in Tasmania’s regional areas, new report shows

Airbnb guests injected more than $500m into the Tasmanian economy in the year to March 2023, with more than half the spending occurring in non-urban parts of the state, a new report shows.

Peter Lutz who has a granny flat attached to his house in Taroona listed on AirBnB for short stay accommodation. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Airbnb guests injected more than half a billion dollars into the Tasmanian economy in the year to March 2023, with more than half the spending occurring in non-urban parts of the state, a new report commissioned by the platform has found.

Research from Oxford Economics also found that the short-stay accommodation provider supported 4000 jobs across Tasmania, while the 52 per cent of money spent by guests outside the major population centres was the highest proportion of all Australian states.

The report, titled The Economic Impact of Airbnb in APAC, revealed the platform accounted for 7.8 percent of the tourism industry’s national contribution to GDP in 2022, up from 5 percent in 2019.

The report also illustrated change in travel behaviour away from urban areas since the pandemic.

“Airbnb has been at the heart of some of the trends reshaping the nation’s travel and tourism

industry, including the shift in travel away from cities and towards more rural communities,” Oxford Economics Australia head of consulting Kristian Kolding said.

“Domestic travellers have been crucial to the tourism sector’s resilience over the past three years as Aussie guests saw opportunities in domestic travel as a substitute for international holidays, with self-drive and regional trips increasing in popularity which led to a wider dispersion of tourism spend outside the traditional or ‘popular’ destinations in Australia.”

Short-stay accommodation Tasmania maps and statistics. Picture: REIA

Taroona’s Peter Lutz, who lists a guest suite at the back of his property, said being a host enabled him to interact with travellers from across Australia and around the world.

“My Airbnb guests are a real mix of local and international travellers who are often visiting their family and friends or attending a conference or wedding at the nearby convention centre,” Mr Lutz said.

“When guests stay with me, I provide them with a guestbook that includes an entire printed list of places to go to and things to do such as the local cafes, retailers, and must-do tours in the area.

“I know every host that I have interacted with also does this as we want to share the benefits of hosting to the communities we exist in.”

A recent report by the Real Estate Institute of Australia found that in regional Tasmania, 11.5 out of every 100 private rentals were listed on short-stay accommodation platforms.