Airbnb to invest US$2mil on innovative tourism projects in APAC

• Airbnb community boosts Apec economies by US$28 billion in 2016
• Supported 370,000 jobs across 116 Apec cities last year

AT THE Apec CEO Summit 2017 in Da Nang on, Airbnb announced it will invest US$2 million (RM8.38 million) through 2020 to promote and support innovative tourism projects throughout Asia-Pacific. (US$1 = RM4.19)

This commitment is part of Airbnb's vision to strengthen communities through healthy tourism and empower hospitality entrepreneurs across the region.

The fund will be available to organisations — including destination marketing organisations, NGOs, non- profit agencies and community social groups — in need of financial support for innovative tourism projects.

The announcement was made by Nathan Blecharczyk (pic, right), Airbnb co-founder, CSO and chairman of China, during a panel discussion on the ‘New Job Creators’.

“Airbnb is dedicated to empowering people and communities through healthy tourism, and we have a long tradition of supporting local projects in Asia-Pacific,” said Blecharczyk.

“We’re excited to continue these efforts and support Apec’s goal of driving sustainable and inclusive tourism to Asia-Pacific economies.”

Empowering hospitality entrepreneurs

New data highlights how Airbnb is empowering hospitality entrepreneurs across Apec member economies through healthy travel — authentic, affordable experiences that distribute the economic benefits to more people and more places, and that occur through use of people’s existing resources.

New data shows that the Airbnb community boosted Apec economies by US$28 billion and supported 370,000 jobs across 116 Apec cities in 2016.

In the past 12 months, 55 million guest arrivals to Apec member economies were made on Airbnb, while Airbnb hosts in Apec member economies earned about US$8 billion during the same time period.

Bringing Apec member economies together

Data also shows how Airbnb is driving sustainable, inclusive growth through tourism and bringing Apec member economies closer together through travel — a top organisational priority for Apec.

A comparison of Airbnb guest arrivals in 2016 to overall Euromonitor-calculated arrivals that year shows Airbnb already accounting for significant percentages of international arrivals in a number of Apec economies.

In terms of international travellers in 2016, Airbnb accounted for at least 5% of all arrivals at six Apec member economies: the US (5%), Canada (6%), Chinese Taipei (8%), Australia (11%), New Zealand (14%), and Japan (15%).

Apec member economies that have seen at least 100% year-over-year growth in inbound guest arrivals on Airbnb include: Korea (104%), Papua New Guinea (110%), the Philippines (133%), Vietnam (154%), Brunei (170%), Mexico (175%), Malaysia (179%), Chile (195%), and China (268%).