Online accommodation service Airbnb is disrupting a large segment of travel industry: ordinary people make a spare bedroom available at their apartment for tourists, and usually at lower price than hotels. Young city-dwellers who like to travel are probably the most frequent users of Airbnb, and it reflects in the destinations that are popular at the service. Airbnb has released a report that lists the hottest neighborhoods in the world for travelers.
Here is the top 16 hottest districts ranked by the relative growth in bookings in 2015 (tallied up from bookings of 40 million users in 190 countries):
1. Chuo-ku (Osaka, Japan): 7,471% growth
2. Banglampoo (Bangkok): 1,239%
3. Brickfields (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia): 1,231%
4. Capucins (Bordeaux, France): 966%
5. Koukaki (Athens, Greece): 801%
6. Triana (Seville, Spain): 774%
7. Hammerbrook (Hamburg, Germany): 418%
8. Kaneohe (Oahu, Hawaii): 324%
9. Meireles (Fortaleza, Brazil): 287%
10. Roma Sur (Mexico City): 279%
11. Oak Lawn (Dallas, Texas): 264%
12. Poncey-Highland (Atlanta, Georgia): 242%
13. District VII (Budapest, Hungary): 148%
14. The Bukit Peninsula (Bali, Indonesia): 134%
15. Richmond (Melbourne, Australia): 126%
16. Constitucion (Buenos Aires, Argentina): 125%
The percentages for growth are so big that the starting point may have been rather low in many destinations. That’s often the reason for huge growth numbers, but nonetheless, something draws travelers into these neighborhoods, so there’s something going on in there.
Who would have thought that Dallas or Atlanta are hot destinations? We have visited many cities (or islands like Bali) listed in the hottest neighborhood report, but we can recognize only a few of districts. Who knows, maybe we have passed through Triana in Seville, but never took notice, or a taxi has driven us via Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur without making a fuss about it.