Airbnb is having no discernible impact on hotel occupancies or pricing in Sydney according to a study by STR Global, which says that the room sharing and apartment letting site is most popular in suburbs where hotels do no not have a significant presence. This finding is based on STR Global stats that show the average occupancy rate of the Sydney hotels it monitors – which tend to be larger nationally or globally branded properties – rose 4.4% during 2015 to reach an impressive 85.3%. Therefore, with such growth, no impact. But STR says that may change if, as expected, Sydney hoteliers start hiking room rates through 2016. “Hoteliers, with continued high occupancy levels forecast, are focused on rate growth, which may cause consumer price ceilings to bring Airbnb forward as an option”, said Matthew Burke from STR Global. Yet in five of the 10 local government areas surveyed, STR says the average Airbnb rate is already higher than local hotels. “In terms of price distribution, 50% of hotel accommodation units had an ADR below AUD200, compared with 54% for Airbnb. “The majority of Airbnb listings fell between the AUD100 and AUD148 range, accounting for 28% of listings. “For traditional hotels, 31% of available rooms fell between AUD150 and AUD199, the largest spread for hotel rooms. “
A new study from STR Global has shown that despite its popularity, Sydney is having no discernible impact on Airbnb hotel occupancy rates, mostly because the platform is particularly popular in the city’s suburbs where hotels are not significantly represented.