Jan. 24 - Georgia Airbnb Hosts Earned $158 Million in 2018 Amid Continued Hotel Growth

Category: Hospitality & Tourism

Savannah Business Journal Staff Report

January 24, 2019 - Airbnb recently announced that its Georgia host community earned a combined $158 million in supplemental income while welcoming approximately 1.1 million guest arrivals to the state in 2018.

This comes as Georgia residents increasingly embrace the home sharing platform as an opportunity to earn supplemental income and make ends meet. There are now over 15,000 Georgians who share their homes as Airbnb hosts, typically earning about $6,200 annually in supplemental income. 

Yet, statewide data indicates that Airbnb and its host community appear to be complementing -- rather than competing with -- the Georgia hotel industry. The most recent report from Marcus & Millichap demonstrates that Georgia hotels are thriving -- with robust growth in room occupancy rate and overall revenue -- even as local hosts welcomed hundreds of thousands of guests. This suggests that Airbnb is opening up the state to a new slice of prospective tourists by catering to travelers less able to afford hotels, those who desire to stay in neighborhoods or cities that lack hotels, and families who prefer to be together under one roof. 

The home sharing community provides significant value through expanded lodging capacity for Georgia communities when hotels sell out during big events. These include Athens during college football weekends, Augusta during the golf tournament, Atlanta during major conventions and concerts, and the oceanfront communities during summer tourism season.

Accordingly, next month, Atlanta will host the Big Game and Airbnb hosts will help house thousands of fans from January 27 - February 3. Based on Airbnb data, we expect guests will come from more than 742 cities, 36 countries and 46 states and that hosts will earn over than $1.3 million. A preliminary estimate of arrivals for both the Big Game and the Peach Bowl was released in December and can be found here.

Airbnb also significantly expanded Experiences throughout Georgia in 2018, offering handcrafted activities led by local experts in cities like Athens, Atlanta and Savannah. Airbnb Experiences are  creating new economic opportunities for Georgians by allowing them to unlock their talents and interests and make money from them, catering to the hundreds of millions of people that use Airbnb’s platform to discover unique and authentic travel experiences. Experiences is expected to expand further in Georgia in 2019, and the Experiences currently available can be found here.

What follows is an overview of 2018 guest arrivals and total host income, broken down by the top 25 counties.