Airbnb is worth almost $660m to NZ's economy. Photo / 123RF
Airbnb is worth almost $660m to NZ's economy. Photo / 123RF
Airbnb is helping the country cope with growing tourism, but it will start playing by industry rules says Auckland Mayor Phil Goff.
A report by Deloitte on the economic impacts of Airbnb in New Zealand found it was worth about $660 million annually to the New Zealand economy, supporting morethan 6,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Goff said with the platform set to continue growing, government and the industry had been working together to come up with a fair playing field for all accommodation providers.
"I welcome Airbnb. I welcome it because it provides competition, it provides options and without it we would be struggling to cope with visitors coming to our city," Goff said.
"I welcome it, but I have also said to Airbnb and BookaBach that we have to put you on the same level playing field as our traditional providers."
The council had worked closely with platforms like Airbnb to come up with business rates that both parties felt was fair Goff said.
This would vary depending on the scale of the accommodation and how long it was being let for.
If it was one room, or for less than four weeks, the rates would not apply. For a whole house or more than four weeks, varying business rates would be added.
"Tourism is really important and Airbnb is an increasing part of that," he said.
The report from Deloitte, commissioned by Airbnb, calculated guests spent $781.4 million in 2017, representing 2.8 per cent of all tourism expenditure across the country.
The peer to peer platform allows users to list rooms or houses, and book accommodation around the world.
Around 1.5 million nights were booked in 225 Airbnb locations across New Zealand last year, with hosts earning a median income of $4,400.
Research from the report found about three quarters of the $781m guest expenditure last year was on items other than accommodation, including groceries, transport, shopping and entertainment. This expenditure was up five per cent on the previous year.
New Zealand's tourism industry is worth about $26 billion annually, contributing 10.5 per cent to gross domestic product.
Airbnb Australasian head of policy Brent Thomas said platforms such as Airbnb helped spread tourism to areas that might otherwise be bypassed in favour of locations with more traditional hotel or motel accommodation.
Tourism in New Zealand is worth about $26b to the economy. Photo / 123RF
"New Zealand is such a beautiful place, but one of the challenges is in some areas there is almost too much tourism," he said.
"So one thing we're really pleased about is that this can help spread tourism outside of traditional accommodation areas into local communities, so the cafes and local businesses that don't traditionally benefit from a mass tourism influx, are now benefitting from people that stay in Airbnbs."
The use of such platforms also allowed cities to host larger events including the Lions Tour, Ed Sheeran's Dunedin concerts, the World Masters Games and the America's Cup when accommodation was in short supply.
"What we know about Airbnb is that it does the best when hotels are full, so it's an elastic demand," Thomas said.
"If there's a big event and everyone knows the hotels are full, they can put up those extra rooms for a weekend or a couple of days."
"The hotels fill up and then Airbnbs fill up and more people list. So it allows a city to host a bigger event because you can have more accommodation. It also provides travellers and consumers with a broader range of options, and families with more affordable ways to travel."
Data from Airbnb showed Kiwis represented the largest user group with about 35 per cent of guest bookings coming from New Zealand residents.
Bridge to Nowhere Whanganui River Ruapehu is a major tourism destination. Photo / Tourism NZ
The second largest visiting groups were from Australia with 17 per cent, the US with 12 per cent and China with 8 per cent.
According to Airbnb surveys, 83 per cent of guests were on holiday or for leisure activities, 10 per cent were visiting friends or relatives and 5 per cent were there for work or business.
New Zealand's international visitor market has been growing strongly, with 24 per cent growth in commercial accommodation guest nights in the past three years – more than three times the rate for domestic travellers according to the report.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (Mbie) forecasts international visitor arrivals would increase by 4.8 per cent a year, reaching 4.9 million in 2023.
At the same time, international visitor spending has continued to grow by 40 per cent in the past three years.
