17 million used AIrbnb this summer

Peter shared in sept 2015
Airbnb Hosted Nearly 17 Million Guests This Summer

"Growth is up and to the right for Airbnb. Nearly 17 million people worldwide booked their guest stays with the peer-to-peer lodging platform this summer, according to a new travel report ... That’s a whopping 353x’s surge in the last five years –

Guests came from more than 57,000 cities and 150 different countries to spend the night in interesting accommodations for the season – including tree houses, yurts, castles and a private island in Nicaragua. More than half of the guests this last year were women (54% female, 46% male), and the average traveler’s age was 35 years old, according to the report.

The majority of summer travelers stayed within their own continent, though. Three of the most popular routes to book were from Paris to Lisbon, New York to the Catskills and Hudson Valley and Seoul to Osaka.

Airbnb also claims to be helping the middle-class family supplement their income through the site. An earlier study conducted by former White House national economic advisor Gene Sperling found that the majority of hosts are working-class families who rent out their primary residence for about 66 days a year. According to that study, the average host also earned approximately $7,350, or a 14 percent raise in annual income from temporarily renting out their extra space."

Click here tcrn.ch/1PZkMbe for TechCrunch article.

My two cents: 17 million guests this summer! Just look at the growth chart in the article. But for me, the most surprising factoid is the gender imbalance among Guests (54% female, 46% make). I wonder what that says about women versus men Guests?

Alexina:
The majority of the inquiries I receive seem to come from females, who have created a profile, and then book on behalf of a couple. I have to ask them who their travel partner is, and reiterate that both parties must have read my entire listing. I rarely have inquiries from single males.