Residents of Gangwon Province that hosted the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February last year added generous addition to their income by offering their homes for stays via room-sharing platform Airbnb amid sharp improvement in transportation infrastructure through the momentum of the sports event.

According to the peer-to-peer lodging service provider on Thursday, the median income earned by Airbnb hosts in Gangwon Province last year came to 3.91 million won ($3,474.01), up 106 percent from a year ago.

Except during the Winter Olympics on Feb. 9-25, hosts raised 2.7 million won, up 41 percent on year.

The growth largely owed to improvements to the transportation system in preparation for last year’s Winter Olympics, said Airbnb. Significantly reduced travel times by new high-speed train and expressways now allow visitors to easy and convenient travel to the province.

The number of guests that booked Airbnb accommodations also jumped 125 percent to total 203,400, of which 18,900 came from abroad.

Meanwhile, about 2.9 million people booked accommodations in Korea through Airbnb last year, up 56 percent from 1.9 million in 2017. The median income earned by Airbnb hosts across the country was 4.94 million won.

By Shin Ik-su and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]