Recent Release | 13 Dec 2023

The economic impact of Airbnb in APAC

Economic Consulting Team

Oxford Economics

Oxford Economics was commissioned by Airbnb to explore the economic impact of Airbnb in APAC, in the context of the tourism recovery and this new travel landscape. This study quantifies the economic footprint of travel and tourism activity related to Airbnb in 10 APAC countries, from 2019 to the first full year after the reopening of international travel, referred to as 2022* (the 12 months to March 2023).

Airbnb is at the heart of many of the new trends driving change in the travel sector. The platform’s uniquely flexible supply of accommodation has enabled APAC destinations to adapt to changing travel constraints and shifting consumer demands. In doing so, major trends reshaping the industry are being catalysed by the Airbnb platform.

We estimate that Airbnb’s activities contributed US$ 22.5 billion to APAC GDP in 2022*. The rapid recovery of tourism spend via Airbnb travel since the pandemic meant that its GDP contribution in 2022* was already 5% higher than in 2019, in real terms. In addition, we estimate that Airbnb’s activities supported a total of 652,700 jobs across APAC in 2022*. This Airbnb-linked employment is associated with some USD 7.2 billion in wages paid to these workers.

To learn more about this research, please click here.

The experts behind the research

Our Economic Consulting team are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques. Lead consultants on this project were: