New data from Airbnb reveals that guests and hosts on the platform generated over £693 million for the Scotland economy in 2018 alone.
Guest spending in Scottish neighbourhoods and communities accounted for more than three quarters (£531 million) of the total figure generated for the country. Guests spent on average £100 per day on activities like cultural experiences, sightseeing, shopping, travel and food and drink.
Hosts in Scotland who shared their space on Airbnb also enjoyed a boost to their income, collectively earning over £162 million in the past year.
This announcement comes as Airbnb reveals that host income and guest spending led to over £4.2 billion in estimated direct economic impact for the UK, and exceeded $100 billion globally in the last year.
Hadi Moussa, Airbnb, Country Manager UK and Northern Europe, said: “Airbnb has transformed the way people travel, helping visitors to explore beyond the traditional destinations and hotspots. Tourism plays an important role in the Scottish economy, and the Airbnb community of hosts and guests are helping to spread the benefits of this tourism, enabling travellers to live like locals and putting money in the pockets of local families, businesses and communities.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said: “Tourism today is all about consumer choice and we are lucky to have a range of options from the five star experience to now, the spare bedroom. Airbnb is part of a suite of choices the consumer has when visiting a country and there’s no doubt it is helping to grow the visitor economy through innovative new approaches to tourism.”
Based on estimated guest arrival numbers in 2018, the top destinations in Scotland for Airbnb guests are:
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Inverness
- Isle of Skye
- Fort William
- Oban
- Aberdeen
- Portree
- Dundee
- Kyle of Lochalsh
