Chicago Airbnb Hosts To Rake In $4.7M Over Lollapalooza Weekend

By Mae Rice in News on Aug 4, 2017 9:06PM

It's not just loud teens taking over Grant Park for Lollapalooza weekend. It's also out-of-towners, here to see Chance and the totally-fine Bean and be part of something gigantic. Many of those visitors are staying in Airbnbs—and Friday, the company announced that Chicago's Airbnb host community will make a whopping $4.7 million over this fine fest weekend, off of roughly 15,000 guests.

For context, that's almost double the roughly $2.6 million Chicago hosts made during Games 3-5 of the World Series this year, according to the company. (And the World Series was such a cash cow, it made ivy worth $200.)

Back in 2016, Chicago teetered on the brink of a homes-haring crackdown—but the regulations that ultimately passed were minimal, and Chicago home-sharing is thriving (especially this weekend). The city still hosts pockets of resistance to the enterprise, however, especially on the Southwest Side.

To be fair to Airbnb detractors, the influx of Lollapalooza guests won't benefit every neighborhood equally. Of the 15,000 guests visiting for the weekend, Airbnb reports that only 3,000 are staying on the South Side.

The company hopes to encourage those guests to spend more time (and money) in their host neighborhoods, though, with a new Trips platform, intended to help guests find fun local activities near their Airbnb.