Malaysian Airbnb host welcomed 1.5 million guests last year, representing a 137 percent year-over-year (YoY) growth in guest arrivals. This also represented the highest YoY growth rate in Southeast Asia.

"Our strong numbers in 2017 reflect an increasing desire for local and authentic travel within Malaysia, among both foreign and domestic tourists" said Mich Goh, Airbnb Head of Public Policy for Southeast Asia in a statement.

"As Malaysia continues to grow as a popular tourist destination, Airbnb is dedicated to empowering local hospitality entrepreneurs and supporting healthy community growth, through our global platform and philosophy of people-powered travel.”

Goh then went to stressed that the global company is committed to driving healthy tourism in Malaysia through the newly created initiative, the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), under the Airbnb's Office of Healthy Tourism (OHT).

"We are incredibly proud to have some of the foremost leaders in the travel industry joining our TAB and we look forward to working with them to develop solutions to over tourism, and tap into their expertise to promote and drive healthy tourism around the world.”

Data provided by Airbnb also showed that a Malaysian typical host could earn MYR5,200 by renting out their space 18 nights a month, thus providing meaningful income for regular people and families.

There are also now over 31,900 listings in Malaysia on Airbnb and through that, Malaysia had welcomed over 1.5 million travelers from 176 countries into their homes and communities.

Airbnb had this week launched the OHT and TAB initiatives to drive local, authentic and sustainable tourism in countries and cities across the globe.

Along with the launch of the OHT, Airbnb is also releasing data that highlights the benefits of healthy tourism for hosts, guests and cities around the world.

Since Airbnb was founded 10 years ago, travelers have discovered new destinations and neighborhoods off the typical tourist path, bringing the economic benefits of tourism to small businesses and local residents around the world.

Building off of this work through partnerships, programs and events, Airbnb will expand its efforts to economically empower communities, drive travel to lesser-known areas, and support environmentally-friendly travel habits with the OHT.

"With travel and tourism growing faster than most of the rest of economy, it is critical that as many people as possible are benefiting - and right now not all tourism is created equal. To democratize the benefits of travel, Airbnb offers a healthy alternative to the mass travel that has plagued cities for decades" said Airbnb's Global Head of Policy and Communications, Chris Lehane.

Founded in 2008, Airbnb uniquely leverages technology to economically empower millions of people around the world to unlock and monetize their spaces, passions and talents to become hospitality entrepreneurs.

Airbnb's network spans across 191 countries, from apartments and villas to castles, treehouses and bed and breakfasts.