Chicago Airbnb Hosts Raked In Millions Last Weekend; Thanks, Cubs!
By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 2, 2016 7:24PM
Photo: Tyler LaRiviere
Win or lose, the Cubs’ exhilarating postseason run will come to a close with tonight’s Game Seven. That might be good news for our blood pressure levels, but it’s bad news for Chicago Airbnb hosts, because they made bank this past weekend.
Nine thousand visitors stayed in Chicago using the homestay network while during the Cubs’ World Series home stand, Friday through Sunday, and hosts made a collective total of $2.6 million, according to a release from Airbnb.
"As with the entire Chicago hospitality industry, summer is booming. People want to be in Chicago in the summer, so Lollapalooza always represented one of the biggest spikes," Ben Breit, a Chicago-based spokesman for the company, told the Tribune. "It's pretty rare to see a huge surge of travelers into October, November."
Breit told the Trib that Cleveland hosts on the other hand earned considerably less: collecting $330,000 over the course Games One and Two.
Some disparity is to be expected, as Cleveland’s totals represent one fewer game, neither of which fell on a weekend. Plus there are simple market size considerations. Cleveland lists some 1,100 rentals while Chicago has more than 7,700, according to the Trib.
A similar marketplace-spike divide affected Stubhub prices, which last week saw World Series tickets in Chicago nearly double in median cost compared to Cleveland.
According to a release from last week, Airbnb was encouraging visitors to look beyond neighborhoods such as Boystown, Buena Park, Lakeview, North Center, Roscoe Village and Wrigleyville, as those areas booked quickly. Hundreds of visitors stayed in Pilsen and Uptown, and 100-plus booked in Garfield Park and Bronzeville, the company said.
Airbnb and the City Council were at loggerheads for months earlier this year, as Mayor Emanuel and some aldermen—including several that represent predominantly well-off North Side wards—fought for greater restrictions against the homestay hotel alternatives. The Council ultimately passed a generally Airbnb-favorable ordinance, which didn't cap number of per-year rentals. A four percent tax on homestay transactions goes to homeless services, per the ordinance.