1 out of 5 accommodations in Seoul are Airbnb rooms: Study

[Courtesy of Airbnb]

One out of every five accommodations in Seoul are rooms provided by Airbnb Inc., a peer-to-peer lodging service provider headquartered in the U.S., a study showed Thursday.

According to a report published by Jang Soo-cheong, director of the Center for Hospitality and Retail Industries Business Analytics (CHRIBA) of Purdue University, based on the accommodation figures released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Airbnb website, the number of accommodations registered as hotels in Seoul reached 61,483 as of end of last year and Airbnb accommodations 14,937.

There were a total 76,420 rooms in Seoul - 80.5 percent were hotel rooms and 19.5 percent Airbnb rooms.

“The growth in Airbnb has reached a point where it can affect the hotel industry,” Jang said.

There were 11,554 accommodations registered with Airbnb in Seoul as of March this year, of which 15,383 were available rooms.

There were 4,337 Airbnb hosts, with an average of 2.64 accommodations being managed by each host. About 3.4 percent of the hosts, or 149, had more than 10 listings.

The report showed that Airbnb listings in Seoul were heavily concentrated in the city’s tourism spots and commercial areas.

Mapo District in northern Seoul had the largest number of listings at 2,161, followed by Jung District at 1,524, and Gangnam District at 1,292.