Bangalore, 12 July 2023: Airbnb Hosts and guests have emerged as key drivers of economic activity in areas not served by traditional accommodation across India. A new report shows there were over 19,000 guest arrivals in communities within India with Airbnbs and no hotels in 2022. This has generated almost INR 40 million in Host earnings.

Based on a first-ever analysis of Airbnb and OpenStreetMapdata, the data demonstrates the value Airbnb listings bring to underserved communities, allowing new destinations to be explored by tourists keen to take the road less travelled.

The pandemic caused unprecedented disruption to global tourism, causing international visitor numbers to plummet by more than 70 percent. On Airbnb, we saw a profound shift in travel habits away from international trips and city breaks towards domestic travel and extended rural stays.

Amanpreet Bajaj, General Manager for Airbnb India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said: “This study demonstrates that without home-sharing, these economic opportunities for small communities and their businesses might be lost entirely. Guests have the ability to travel to many more places by using Airbnb, as compared to hotels that traditionally are located in higher-traffic areas.”

How Airbnb Disperses Travel in India and the world

In 2022, guests stayed in over 100,000 different cities and towns globally,^] and the top 10 most-visited destinations on Airbnb accounted for around 7 percent of all trips, compared to 10 percent in 2019.

The number of communities globally where guests stayed increased by over 25 percent in 2022 compared with five years ago, spreading tourism to new and different destinations.

Information from OpenStreetMap which is © OpenStreetMap contributors and licensed under the Open Database License (ODbL)

Based on data from the World Tourism Organization

Based on nights booked in each unique city during 2022

Based on nights booked globally in 2019 versus 2022

Based on nights booked in unique cities in 2022 versus 2017