AIRBNB TO PLAY KEY ROLE IN MALAYSIA’S TOURISM RECOVERY - OXFORD ECONOMICS

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 -- Airbnb platform’s community will play a key role in supporting Malaysia’s long-term recovery by unlocking economic opportunities and creating local jobs, says a research from Oxford Economics titled “The Economic Impact of Airbnb in Malaysia”.

The report explores the total economic impact of Airbnb nationwide between 2015 and 2019 and found that Airbnb is now a key pillar of the local tourism industry, contributing as much as RM3.98 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) and supporting 52,100 local jobs as of 2019.

Oxford Economics director of economic consulting in Asia James Lambert said the report also found that prior to the COVID-19 crisis, Airbnb had already been creating opportunities for families, small businesses and communities that benefit from short-term rental accommodation across Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific region.

“In this new environment, Airbnb could play an important role in supporting the earlier recovery of domestic travel by helping households, particularly those who seek to substitute an international trip with a domestic one, discover new areas in their own country to visit," he said in a statement today.

He said the report also highlighted the positive impact of Airbnb guest spending on local communities as Airbnb spreads the benefits of tourism.

"Between 2015 and 2019, Airbnb guests spent a total of RM11.8 billion, growing at an annual rate of 79.6 per cent in Malaysia. For every RM100 spent by Airbnb tourists outside their accommodation spend, approximately RM49 went on shopping, activities and other related items while RM24 were spent on restaurants," he said.

Additionally, in 2019, much of Airbnb’s growth in Malaysia is powered by Malaysians, with 63 per cent of the guests staying in the 66,000 Airbnb listings in the country, as opposed to 43 per cent in 2015. 

He said this continues to be in line with domestic tourism being a key driver of the sector, as domestic tourists represented around half of the country’s tourism economy in 2019. 

"This upward trend is in line with the recent surge in domestic travel bookings in Malaysia following the lifting of travel restrictions around the country during the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO)," he added.

Meanwhile, Airbnb director of public policy, Asia Pacific Mike Orgill said the recovery of national economies and the recovery of the Malaysian tourism industry are inextricably linked.

This new report confirms that the Airbnb community is a proven way to grow Malaysian tourism, help local communities and create tens of thousands of local jobs.

"While this report looks back at the recent past, we believe it offers timely insights for the future as we consider whether the current regulatory framework remains relevant and fit-for-purpose. Regulations that may have worked pre-COVID may not work post-COVID. 

"At Airbnb, we are committed to working hand in hand with governments, tourist agencies, communities and other key local stakeholders in Malaysia to help restore travel in a responsible way, paving the way towards tourism’s much-needed recovery," he said.

Across Asia-Pacific (APAC), Airbnb’s economic contribution grew faster than broader tourism at an average as it supported a total contribution of US$22.7 billion to the region’s GDP in 2019. 

The platform also played a key role in driving the growth of economic opportunities across the region, supporting a total of 925,600 jobs in APAC or one per cent of APAC tourism sector total employment.

-- BERNAMA