Airbnb hosts globally earned over US$2,4bn (R41bn) over the Southern hemisphere summer last year.
As it continues to entice travellers from South Africa and around the world, the online platform has released its trending destinations for the same period this year, based on searches made on its website in Q3 2022 for travel from December 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023.
The city to receive the most searches by travellers worldwide was Kuta, Indonesia, followed by Kuala Lumpur, and Itapema and Angra dos Reis, both in Brazil. Next on the list were Bangkok, Sydney and Singapore. Three more cities with at least 50 000 searches each were Malaga, Melbourne, and Pattaya.
As for destinations searched for by South African guests, Istanbul tops the list, followed by Edinburgh and Mozambique. Next are London, Prague, Lisbon, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Vienna.
Among domestic destinations searched for by South Africans, with at least 1 000 searches each, Hillcrest, KwaZulu Natal was the most popular, ahead of Eersterivierstrand, Eastern Cape. Kingsburgh and Westville in KZN also made the top ten, as well as Addo.
Western Cape was the most popular province, with Malgas, Grabouw, Breede River, Buffelsbaai and Tergniet the most sought-after areas by locals.
The top five booked categories this summer for South African guests are ‘Beach’, ‘Amazing pools’, ‘Iconic city’, ‘Beachfront’, and ‘Surfing’.
