Worldwide: Airbnb has revealed where travellers will be spending their New Year’s Eve [NYE] celebrations around the world and it indicates that many of us are now booking heritage trips and farm stays in local neighbourhoods and lesser known cities.
As more and more travellers look for short-term rental accommodation to welcome in the New Year, the platform found that 95 per cent of Airbnb guests are staying outside of the ten largest travel destinations on this New Year’s Eve.
According to Airbnb internal data, there were 80,000 NYE wish lists created in 2019, with the likes of Ghana, a Vietnamese island and Brazil have benefited from this phenomenon as trending destinations for the holiday period, based on growth in guest arrivals from last year.
The list is as follows:
Destination / Growth in guest arrivals over last year
Accra, Ghana / 352 per cent
Louisville, Kentucky / 243 per cent
Haymarket, Australia / 145 per cent
Duong Dong, Vietnam / 132 per cent
Kofu-shi, Japan / 130 per cent
Mont-Dore, France / 123 per cent
Ellicottville, New York / 121 per cent
Lagos, Nigeria / 121 per cent
Joinville, Brazil / 121 per cent
Are, Sweden / 120 per cent
Atlanta, GA / 119 per cent
Zacatecas, Mexico / 118 per cent
Fort William, Scotland / 118 per cent
Jeju-si, South Korea / 117 per cent
Dallas, Texas / 115 per cent
Marigot, Saint Martin / 110 per cent
Pasanauri, Georgia / 106 per cent
Baguio, Philippines / 101 per cent
Mendoza, Argentina / 96 per cent
Changsha, China / 90 per cent
As well as travel destinations, there have been significant spikes in travellers coming from specific regions to book Airbnbs for NYE. Below are the top ten trending origins of travellers, and the places they are going to:
Origins and destinations of travellers / Percentage increase
Brazilian travellers in Paraguay / 412 per cent
Canadian travellers in Nicaragua / 406 per cent
German travellers in Barbados / 356 per cent
Georgian travellers in Italy / 354 per cent
US travellers in Ghana / 347 per cent
Mayotte travellers in France / 306 per cent
Nigerian travellers in UAE / 291 per cent
Indian travellers in Vietnam / 252 per cent
Belgian travellers in the Philippines / 250 per cent
Ukrainian travellers in Indonesia / 242 per cent
Meanwhile, guests reportedly made 7.6 times more searches for pools and 2.5 times more searches for jacuzzis than fireplaces for the holiday weekend, and over the holiday:
Treehouses — 1,446 guest arrivals
Islands — 673 guest arrivals
Caves — 416 guest arrivals
Windmills — 152 guest arrivals
Farm Stays — 19,000+ guest arrivals
Castles — 2,759 guest arrivals
This echoed the words of VP of marketing at TravelNest, Cameron Boal, who highlighted the popularity of unique activities such as glamping in the countryside: “Setting up glamping pods or wigwams can be a cost-effective way of starting out in the short-term rental market and testing the water before investing further. We’re seeing quite a bit of innovation within the farming sector, and increased use of the core business to help properties stand out.”
For more information on NYE bookings, visit the Airbnb website here.
