Airbnb announces 2019 trending ski destinations
Worldwide: Airbnb has released a report of their top five trending ski destinations, based on internal data for year over year booking growth.
Here are the top five trending ski destinations on the list:
• Karuizawa, Japan
Karuizawa in Japan is Airbnb’s top trending ski destination of the year. Located just an hour away from the capital, Tokyo, via bullet train, rental bookings in the area went up by 444 per cent between the start of 2018 and 2019.
The affluent ski town may seem quaint but it has a rich history: it is the only place to hold both a summer and winter Olympic event, and it was frequented by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the 1970s.
• Zhangjiakou, China
Meanwhile, bookings for Zhangjiakou in China went up 217 per cent this year. Along with Beijing, Zhangjiakou will be one of the host cities of the 2022 Winter Olympics and the region’s ski resorts include Wanlong, Chongli, and Saibei.
In addition, sightseers in Zhangjiakou can visit the northern section of the Great Wall of China in the region when they are taking some time away from the slopes.
• Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, USA
Winter bookings have also shot up in Tennessee, with a 207 per cent rise this year at the Great Smoky Mountains.
The national park saw an increase of 191 per cent across all seasons in the yearly period leading up to 2019.
Now, Airbnb has named it as one of the “Must Visit” destinations for 2019, particularly as the Great Smoky Mountains park has been America’s most visited national park for a long time running.
• Lombardy Mountains, Italy
Although the Dolomites are probably the most famous Italian alps resort area, the Lombardy mountains are on the rise with bookings. The region has just seen an Airbnb booking increase of 186 per cent over the past year, with tourists going on to visit Lake Como, which is in the Lombardy region itself.
Bormio is perhaps Lombardy’s most renowned mountain and other notable sightseeing options include Livigno and Madesimo.
• San Carlos De Bariloche, Argentina
Bookings in San Carlos De Bariloche in Argentina have risen by 186 per cent in the past year. It is home to the biggest ski resort in South America, Cerro Catedral, which has 600 hectares of skiable surface and 53 trails.
