Last year, Airbnb guests traveled to more cities than ever before
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, Airbnb guests traveled to more than 100,000 cities and towns across more than 200 countries and regions, making it the most dispersed year of travel ever on the platform.
- More than 4,000 cities and towns across the globe welcomed their first Airbnb stays last year and the vast majority (nearly 80 percent) of these new Airbnb destinations were in non-urban places worldwide.
Last year was a year of unprecedented exploration by Airbnb guests. In 2023, Airbnb guests traveled to more than 100,000 cities and towns across more than 200 countries and regions, making it the most dispersed year of travel ever on the platform, made possible by our Hosts, which now number over 5 million, globally.1
More than 4,000 cities and towns across the globe welcomed their first Airbnb stays last year and the vast majority (nearly 80 percent) of these new Airbnb destinations were in non-urban places worldwide. From the small, historical town of Huépac, Mexico, to the picturesque town of Nakatonbetsu, nestled in Hokkaido, Japan, our guests ventured off the beaten path to find new locations last year.
Airbnb allows travelers to discover new places in an affordable way through providing listing options that can offer more value and are often cheaper than hotel stays. In fact, the average nightly price of a one-bedroom listing on Airbnb in December 2023 was $114, down 2 percent from the prior-year period, while hotel prices rose 7 percent to $149 over the same period.2
Dispersed travel on Airbnb isn’t just affordable, it also boosts local economies and jobs, and immerses people in these communities. In contrast, traditional travel often tends to concentrate tourism economically and geographically, causing overcrowding, congestion, and tensions between people and the places they’re visiting. Airbnb is helping to alleviate travel congestion on an increasing scale. In 2023, the top 10 most-visited destinations on Airbnb accounted for around 7 percent of nights stayed, compared to 10 percent in 2019.
For example, some of the most booked, affordable destinations3 by our guests worldwide in 2023 include:
- Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Dijon, France
- Monterrey, Mexico
- Malacca, Malaysia
- Thessaloniki, Greece
- Agadir, Morocco
- Winnipeg, Canada
We’ve previously reported on Airbnb’s ability to spread travel outside of hotel zones, and bring the benefits of tourism dollars to communities that wouldn’t otherwise have access to them. In this report, we’ve taken a deeper look at how our guests are dispersing by looking at the following:
- The most internationally and domestically well-traveled cities in the US
- Travel trends for the top 50 most populous US cities
Most adventurous cities in the US
Airbnb guests in the US traveled to a record 15,000-plus cities and towns domestically in 2023. That incredible amount of dispersal got us wondering, which cities in the US have the most adventurous travelers? We defined “adventurous” as the cities whose guests traveled to the most US counties on Airbnb. Here are the top 10 US cities with the most adventurous travelers:
- Chicago: Airbnb guests from Chicago visited nearly 90% of counties in the US
- Dallas: Airbnb guests from Dallas visited nearly 90% of counties in the US
- Denver: Airbnb guests from Denver visited nearly 80% of counties in the US
- Houston: Airbnb guests from Houston visited nearly 80% of counties in the US
- Atlanta: Airbnb guests from Atlanta visited nearly 80% of counties in the US
- Nashville: Airbnb guests from Nashville visited more than 70% of counties in the US
- Charlotte: Airbnb guests from Charlotte visited more than 70% of counties in the US
- NYC: Airbnb guests from NYC visited more than 70% of counties in the US
- Minneapolis: Airbnb guests from Minneapolis visited more than 70% of counties in the US
- St. Louis: Airbnb guests from St. Louis visited more than 70% of counties in the US
Going far and wide
US travelers spent more nights abroad on Airbnb in 2023 than ever before, marking a 40% increase compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019. US travelers stayed in nearly 50,000 international cities and towns last year. Here are the top US origin cities that had the highest percentage of guests traveling abroad in 2023:4
US cities with the highest share of guests traveling abroad in 2023:
- Meriden, CT
- Miami Beach, FL
- Chula Vista, CA
- New York City, NY
- Cambridge, MA
- Trenton, NJ
- San Francisco, CA
- Washington, D.C.
- Bellevue, WA
- Palo Alto, CA
Global cities with the highest share of guests traveling abroad in 2023 and some of their top destinations:
- Singapore
- Luxembourg
- Doha, QA
- Hong Kong
- Kuwait City, KW
- Jubljana, Slovenia
- Amsterdam, NL
- Rotterdam, NL
- The Hague, NL
- Geneva, CH
Where they’re going:
We’re often asked about travel trends and where Airbnb guests are going. To better answer and visualize those trends, we created a map of the 50 most populous cities in the US and the three international destinations that guests from there were more likely to visit.
1. According to internal Airbnb data as of Dec. 31, 2023 2. Average global price (USD) of a hotel room compared to a stay in a 1-bedroom home on Airbnb. Prices include all fees but exclude taxes. Sources: CoStar, Airbnb 3. Destination cities with an average daily rate of USD $100 or less 4. Based on the percentage of guests from US cities who traveled internationally, with a minimum of 10,000 guests
About Airbnb
Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million Hosts who have welcomed over 1.5 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, Hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.
About Airbnb.org
Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc.'s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org's charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows Hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, Hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.
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