Tasmania vs Western Australia: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Tasmania edges ahead of Western Australia on higher occupancy (26.3% vs 21.4%), stronger RevPAR (£40 vs £39).

Head-to-head metrics

	Tasmania	Western Australia
Median occupancy	26.3%	21.4%
Median daily rate	£148	£176
Median RevPAR	£40	£39
Active listings	5,498	11,558
YoY occupancy	+0 pts	-1.6 pts
YoY daily rate	+49.2%	+40.2%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Tasmania vs Western Australia

Tasmania finishes clearly ahead of Western Australia on our composite of occupancy, revenue per available night and regulation risk — and it is the calendar rather than the price tag doing the work. Tasmania's listings run at 26.3% occupancy against 21.4% in Western Australia, worth 4.9 extra points of booked calendar every year. Nightly rates are also climbing faster in Tasmania, +49.2% over the last year against +40.2% in Western Australia. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

The two markets reach their revenue by different routes, which is what makes this pairing worth reading rather than just tabulating. Western Australia is the rate market: £176 a night against £148, some 18.6% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 21.4% occupancy. Tasmania is the volume market, filling 26.3% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £40 in Tasmania against £39. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Western Australia is not simply the weaker market of the two. Nightly rates favour Western Australia: £176 against £148 in Tasmania, a 18.6% premium. Western Australia is the deeper market at 11,558 active listings against 5,498, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. If your model leans on nightly rate rather than volume, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Tasmania nor Western Australia currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Tasmania peaks in September at 52.7% and bottoms in May at 36.9%; Western Australia runs from 55.8% in September down to 32.4% in February. Tasmania is the steadier of the two at 15.8 points peak-to-trough against 23.4 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Western Australia concentrates its return into a shorter window and rewards operators who price the peak aggressively instead of holding a flat rate all year.

Who each suits, then. Tasmania suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry and whose economics survive high turnover — more bookings, more cleans, more guest contact per pound of revenue. Western Australia answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal: it is the market for an owner who can hold rate through the shoulder season rather than discounting to fill the calendar. It is the contrarian side: buying it means buying a market that has cooled. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2026-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 5,498 active Tasmania listings and 11,558 in Western Australia.

Frequently asked questions

Is Tasmania or Western Australia better for Airbnb investment?

Tasmania, on the data we track. It leads on higher occupancy (26.3% vs 21.4%), faster rate growth (+49.2% vs +40.2% year over year), and a flatter season (15.8-point swing vs 23.4). Western Australia is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a higher nightly rate (£176 vs £148).

Which has higher occupancy, Tasmania or Western Australia?

Tasmania, at 26.3% median occupancy against 21.4% in Western Australia — a gap of 4.9 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Western Australia can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Tasmania was flat and Western Australia shed 1.6 points, so the gap is widening.

Which has higher nightly rates, Tasmania or Western Australia?

Western Australia, at £176 a night against £148 in Tasmania — roughly 18.6% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — Tasmania comes out ahead at £40 against £39, so Tasmania's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Tasmania or Western Australia?

Tasmania, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against −1.6 points in Western Australia. Nightly rates rose 49.2% in Tasmania and rose 40.2% in Western Australia over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Tasmania or Western Australia?

Western Australia, with 11,558 active listings against 5,498 in Tasmania. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Tasmania vs Western Australia?

Tasmania earns more: roughly £14,780 a year for a median listing against £14,076 in Western Australia. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Tasmania →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Western Australia →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Ready to buy?

Get a full investment report on either city

Property-level financials, stress tests, and an AI verdict — £19 each.

Tasmania report →Western Australia report →

From the same team

Already hosting? Meet HostPal

An AI concierge that answers your guests on WhatsApp 24/7 — in 50+ languages, from your own guidebook and house rules. Emergencies get escalated to you; the WiFi password doesn't. Live in under 10 minutes.

Try HostPal free for 7 days →