Highlighting the scale of the sharing economy in the lodging market, industry leader Airbnb reported 17 million people worldwide booked a stay on its platform this summer.
That represents a whopping 353-fold increase from just five years ago when 47,000 travelers stayed with Airbnb in summer 2010.
The Airbnb Summer Travel Report said a total of 30 million have booked stays on Airbnb so far this year.
Breaking down the stats, the report says guests came from more than 57,000 cities in 150 different countries and nearly one million guests stayed with hosts worldwide on August 8, the busiest day of summer.
It is not just traditional houses, apartments or villas that have proven popular this summer.
The report said 50,000 stayed on boats, 25,000 in RVs and 13,000 booked a vacation in a castle.
Airbnb data shows Cuba and Philadelphia as the fastest growing markets in the last six months, likely spurred by huge demand for accommodations during Pope Francis’ visit to both destinations later this month.
