The winners and losers of Switzerland’s Airbnb boom

Airbnb bookings in Switzerland since November 2017 have come from more than 50 countries, Keystone

The number of people renting Airbnb accommodation in Switzerland has tripled in the past three years to more than 900,000, according to the home rental platform. Not everyone, however, is happy with the trend. 

Airbnb’s Travel Report Switzerland 2018 said growth was being driven by greater penetration in rural areas: demand in popular alpine tourist areas was twice as strong as in cities over the past 12 months. The resorts of Unterseen, Crans-Montana and Scuol registered the proportionally highest growth in bookings. 

The majority of hosts are private individuals who rent out their rooms or homes to business travellers or tourists for short periods – on average 3.4 nights.

  + A closer look at the Airbnb footprint in the Alps

 + How does Switzerland regulate Airbnb?

However, Airbnb, which was founded in 2008, is no longer just about individuals with a spare room. This hostel in Interlaken, the Backpackers Villa Sonnenhof, is also benefiting from the trend:

That said, Airbnb has not been welcomed by everyone in the hotel industry. The owner of the Hotel Beausite in Unterseen blames Airbnb for decreased bookings:

Airbnb in Switzerland

A total of 35,800 accommodations are currently available on Airbnb throughout Switzerland, up from 14,000 in 2015, according to Airbnb’s Travel Report Switzerland 2018. 

The average age of guests booking on Airbnb in Switzerland is 38 and the average group size is 2.4 people. 

The largest number of guests in 2018, almost 200,000, came from within Switzerland. Second and third place went to travellers from the United States and neighbouring France.