Airbnb ambitious to supply accommodation for PyeongChang Olympics
.jpg?w=728)
Lee Sang-hyun, head of public policy at Airbnb Seoul, presents data during a press event held Tuesday in Seoul. / Courtesy of Airbnb
By Yun Suh-young
Global lodging platform Airbnb has rolled up its sleeves to ambitiously support the PyeongChang Winter Olympics which begins Friday.
In a press conference Tuesday, releasing data gathered ahead of the Olympics, the online company announced the number of bookings for Gangwon Province, where the Olympics will be held, increased by 260 percent.
"Whereas there were 2,500 tourists to PyeongChang last February, the numbers have catapulted to 9,000 as of Feb. 2 this year, up by 260 percent within a year. That means, based on simple calculation of placing two people in one room, there needs to be 4,500 rooms to accommodate them. This is equivalent to having 28 hotels. Airbnb has de facto brought 28 hotels to the region," said Lee Sang-hyun, head of public policy at Airbnb's Seoul office.
"As of this February, there are 4,000 Airbnb listings in Gangwon Province. The mean price for the listings is 185,000 won, which is nearly one-third of the price (500,000 won) estimated by USA Today to book a room in the region during the Olympic period. Airbnb is not only helping tourists find cheaper rooms, but is also invigorating the local economy."
The data released by the company is based on bookings made for the Olympic period spanning Feb. 9 to 25.
The company became an official supporter for the games in an agreement signed last Nov. 22, and also made a deal with Gangwon Province on Jan. 13 last year to promote the province and support a successful Winter Olympics.
"We have worked with the YWCA in Gangneung to train hosts as well as partnering up with booking startup Onda to register 600 new hosts. We have also collaborated since Dec. 15 with ridesharing platform Buxi to provide transportation during the Olympic period," said Lee.
"Airbnb published 20,000 copies of a guidebook to help tourists get by and also manufactured big-sized towels for foreigners whose biggest inconvenience at Asian Airbnbs was towel sizes, according to our research."