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Emerging destinations to benefit from Airbnb-TAT tie-up

Emerging destinations to benefit from Airbnb-TAT tie-up

Nong Saeng, Doi Phuiko, Wang Thong and many more emerging destinations are set to benefit from collaboration between the world’s largest community-driven hospitality platform Airbnb and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) with the launch of the Beyond Big Cities website.

“This industry-first collaboration will see the two partners – through the use of big data and leveraging of Airbnb’s digital technology expertise – drive domestic and international travel to off-the-beaten-track destinations throughout Thailand, going beyond the big cities and supporting local community-led tourism in line with the Thai government’s policies,” the company said in a statement today (November 18). 
“Airbnb is keen to see the benefits of Thailand’s tourism reach local communities, and to this end we have been working with and supporting government agencies,” said Mich Goh, head of Airbnb's Public Policy for Southeast Asia. “This new collaboration will enable TAT to clearly see domestic and international traveller trends. This supports the government’s goal to diversify tourism and create a more sustainable tourism model that supports local entrepreneurs.” 
Said TAT deputy governor for Digitalisation, Research and Development Siripakorn Cheawsamoot: “Our collaboration with Airbnb will give TAT access to valuable data and help us to better track tourism trends around the country. One of our policies is to encourage responsible tourism in emerging destinations, and working with Airbnb will help us to achieve this and further grow tourism at the local community level.”
According to the company, in the past year more than 250,000 guests used Airbnb to visit large events beyond big cities across the Asia-Pacific region, bringing more than Bt728 million in host earnings to communities in these destinations. In the up-and-coming sports tourism hub of Buriram, Airbnb partnered with the Tourism and Sports Ministry’s Department of Tourism and homestay provider B-Stay to rent flexible accommodation for Thailand MotoGP 2018 and 2019. 
During this year’s MotoGP, Airbnb’s host community in Buriram welcomed more than 430 guests from over 100 cities around the world – a 96 per cent year-on-year increase, the company added. 
“Governments and travellers have turned to Airbnb as a sustainable solution to scale up accommodation supply without having to invest in additional infrastructure, all while supporting hospitality entrepreneurs who want to share their local culture with visitors,” Goh said. “This trend is on the rise as smaller cities in the Asia Pacific increasingly play host to big tourism events, such as the recent Rugby World Cup in Japan, where we saw guest arrivals grow approximately 176 per cent in Kumamoto and 100 per cent in Oita compared to the same time last year.”
Sporting events such as The North Face 100 Thailand in Nakhon Ratchasima, the 2019 Buriram Marathon, Prachuap Khiri Run by Tipco 2019 and Columbia Trail Masters 2019 in Rayong are driving tourism to these areas, as are local and music festivals such as the Big Mountain Music Festival in Nakhon Ratchasima, the E-San Music Festival, the Khon Kaen International Festival and the OverCoat Music Festival in Phetchabun.
“Events can provide real opportunity for local communities to benefit from tourism and Airbnb offers guests an authentic travel experience. We see more and more people travelling to emerging destinations, exploring local neighbourhoods and their spending going directly to the community,” Goh added.

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