• Airbnb released a report in August suggesting itcan play a key role in Australia’s tourism recovery.
• The report was conducted by Oxford Economics and found that in 2019 Airbnb contributed $10.38 billion to Australia’s GDP.
• Peter Phibbs, however, argues that is grossly inflated, and “to accurately say what the impact of Airbnb is, they’d actually have to work out whether people would not travel at all if the Airbnb opportunity wasn’t there.”
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

While Airbnb is gearing up for a public listing in the US, in Australia it’s positioning itself as key to the tourism recovery efforts.

This week, Airbnb released a report studying the economic impact of its business in Australia. The report, conducted by Oxford Economics, found that the platform contributed $10.38 billion to Australia’s GDP in 2019, and supported nearly 9000 jobs.

The report also pointed to Airbnb’s “multiplier effect” – claiming its guests would then go out to spend in local communities. The report claims Airbnb guests spent $8.67 billion in Australia in 2019.

The findings also suggest Airbnb could play a major role in supporting Australia’s long term tourism recovery. James Lambert, Oxford Economics Director of Economic Consulting in Asia said in a statement that Airbnb could support recovery in domestic travel.

“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.

“Specifically, Airbnb can inspire domestic travel in areas outside tourist hotspot locations by offering unique listings and experiences across regional markets.”

Airbnb’s Head of Public Policy for Australia Derek Nolan said the company is poised to help the tourism sector recover.

“This report is part of our ongoing efforts to better understand Airbnb’s contribution to economic growth so we can make sure we’re adding as much value as possible for the benefit of all Australians,” he said in a statement.

“While 2020 has been a year characterised by disruption, this 2019 data helps paint a long-term picture of the role short-term rental accommodation plays in job creation.”

Professor Peter Phibbs, Director of the Henry Halloran Trust at the University of Sydney doesn’t accept Airbnb’s report. Phibbs has more than 20 years of experience in housing research.

“I’ve been an Airbnb researcher for about five years – nothing Airbnb has ever put in a press release has been accurate,” he told Business Insider Australia.

He acknowledged that Airbnb could play a part in supporting tourism.

“Certainly, parts of it are probably true. [Airbnb] could have an important role in terms of supporting tourism in some parts of Australia if people get out there.”

However, Phibbs pointed out the “dilemma” presented by the study, as well as further questions that need to be asked.

“If someone didn’t have an Airbnb tourist opportunity in the place, would they use some other opportunity? Some other competitive platform [or] a local B&B?” he said. “It’s not like people didn’t travel in Australia before Airbnb.

“That’s the dilemma with their study. To accurately say what the impact of Airbnb is, they’d actually have to work out whether people would not travel at all if the Airbnb opportunity wasn’t there. And they haven’t done that. All they’ve done is just add up their Airbnb customers.”

Phibbs argued that if someone stayed at the local pub in a country town instead of an Airbnb, you’d still have the same or an even greater economic contribution.

“The economic impact would probably be greater because the people might spend more time in the hotel buying meals,” he said.

“With Airbnb the travel is X. Without Airbnb it’s Y. And you’ve got to be able to prove what that difference is.

“Airbnb never do that. They just say people spend all this money. But I would argue that people also spent a lot of money travelling around before Airbnb and other platforms.”

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