Five Million Visitors Injects US$1.67bn Into Mekong Economies
Nakhon Phanom (Thailand) – July 5, 2018 (travelindex.com) – Airbnb, the world’s leading community-driven hospitality company, today announces new data that shows how Airbnb is supporting healthy tourism in the Greater Mekong region.
At the inaugural Mekong Tourism Forum 2018 in Nakhon Phanom, Mich Goh, Airbnb’s Head of Public Policy for Southeast Asia, shared that Airbnb welcomed 5 million inbound guest
arrivals in 2017 to the Greater Mekong region, namely Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand, and Vietnam. This marks a significant 147% growth year-over-year (yoy).
These guests contributed a total of US$1.67 billion in economic activity, benefiting hundreds of thousands of hospitality entrepreneurs and local businesses across the Greater Mekong region.
In turn, the Greater Mekong region accounts for a significant number of Airbnb users. More than 7 million travellers from the region traveled with Airbnb to other destinations, creating offline connections across borders and cultures.
Additional findings include:
On intra-Greater Mekong travel
– More than 60,000 guests on Airbnb traveled consecutively to two or more countries
within the region in 2017.
– Of these travelers, almost 50% of them began their intra-region trips in Thailand.
– Topping the list of most popular travel chains ( i.e. chain of Mekong countries that
guests on Airbnb travel to consecutively) is Thailand-Vietnam, and vice versa. This is
followed closely by Thailand-Cambodia, Vietnam-Cambodia and Thailand-China.
On country and region-specific travel
– Notably, Airbnb experienced powerful triple-digit growth in China and Vietnam.
○ China – 205% yoy growth in inbound guest arrivals, 103% yoy growth in outbound
guests arrivals
○ Vietnam – 145% increase in inbound guest arrivals, 158% yoy growth in outbound
guest arrivals
– Thailand, Airbnb’s second largest market in the Greater Mekong after China, welcomed
1.2 million guests alone in 2017.
– In Myanmar and Laos, locals are increasingly embracing traveling with Airbnb.
Outbound guest arrivals in Myanmar grew 169% yoy, while the number of local hosts
opening their homes to tourists increased 85% yoy. Similarly, outbound guest arrivals in
Laos grew 100% yoy.
– 68% of all guests traveling with Airbnb to the region were under 30 years of age, and
31% between 30-60 years of age.
– 54% of all guests traveling with Airbnb to the region were female, and 46% male.
– The top 10 countries of origin of guests traveling with Airbnb to the region are: China,
the US, Singapore, Korea, Thailand, the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and
France.
During her keynote speech, Goh shared:
“The Greater Mekong is one of Airbnb’s fastest growing regions, and we continue to grow in the region because tourists increasingly want new, adventurous, and local experiences when they travel.
“We offer travelers a wide variety of unique quality accommodations across the region, and
Airbnb Experiences in three markets — China, Thailand and Vietnam. We are proud to share that we launched Experiences in Chiang Mai just yesterday. Chiang Mai is one of our fastest growing markets in Thailand, and we believe the introduction of Experiences will continue to support the creative and cultural capital as it continues to grow as a popular travel destination both in the region and globally.
“Airbnb is empowering local hospitality entrepreneurs and strengthening local communities
through healthy, sustainable tourism. With travel and tourism growing rapidly, it is critical that as many people as possible are benefiting and Airbnb hosts are providing the type of travel that is best for destinations, residents, and travelers alike in the Greater Mekong.”
About Airbnb
Founded in 2008, Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where people can belong when they
travel by being connected to local cultures and having unique travel experiences. Its community marketplace provides access to millions of unique accommodations from apartments and villas to castles and treehouses in more than 65,000 cities and 191 countries.
With Experiences, Airbnb offers unprecedented access to local communities and interests, while Places lets people discover the hidden gems of a city as recommended by the people that live there. Airbnb is people powered and the easiest way to earn a little extra income from extra space in a home or from sharing passions, interests and cities.