Airbnb announced this week that Floridian hosts and homeowners earned a combined $810 million in supplemental income while welcoming approximately 4.5 million guest arrivals to the state in 2018 through the platform.
According to the company, Airbnb hosts in St. Johns County earned $17.2 million in 2018, welcoming 113,000 guests through the platform. The company says there are now over 45,000 Floridian hosts who share their homes via Airbnb, typically earning about $6,500 annually in supplemental income.
Airbnb said statewide data indicates that the company and its host community appear to be complementing — rather than competing with — the Florida hotel industry. According to the company, the most recent state-commissioned report demonstrates that Florida hotel occupancy rates, daily prices and revenue have grown steadily even as local hosts welcomed millions of guests. Airbnb said this suggests that vacation rentals are opening 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.
This most recent announcement comes on the heels of previous Airbnb reports documenting the positive impact of vacation rentals for Floridian senior hosts as well as for rural Florida counties that lack hotels. At this time, over 932,000 Floridians are Airbnb users (as either hosts or guests).
