Airbnb, illustrative stock photo (source: Sme - Jozef Jakubčo)
Slovaks use alternative forms of private accommodation or co-drive more than their closest neighbours in the region.
While about 16 percent of Slovaks ordered private accommodation via the internet in the past year, which is close to the European average, the shared drive was used by 8 percent of Slovaks, as stems from an analysis of Slovenská Sporiteľňa.
Slovaks mostly used the accommodation and transport shared-economy services offered by foreign platforms that operate in the country. The most typical users are men aged 25-54 years with university education.
“Ordering accommodation or transport via these alternative platforms is often dozens of euros cheaper than via ordinary services,” said Lenka Buchláková, analyst with Slovenská sporiteľňa, as quoted in a press release.
Though the share of these services in the Slovak economy is lower than 0.01 percent of GDP, it has a huge potential for the future and it is possible that incomes from this sector will increase, Buchláková added.
Low share in EU comparison
The neighbouring countries report one of the smallest shares in the use of shared economy services in the European Union.
In the Czech Republic, only less than 5 percent of people booked alternative private accommodation via the internet, while only 2 percent used a shared drive. In Poland, 15 percent of people found private accommodation via Airbnb and Couchsurfing platforms, while 6.2 percent used shared transport.
The analysis showed that while 13.4 percent of Hungarians used accommodation services and 3.1 percent transport services, in Austria 7.9 percent of respondents booked their private accommodation via shared economy platforms and 1.6 percent used a shared transport service.
