Airbnb announced today 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.
This comes as Floridian homeowners increasingly embrace the home sharing and vacation rental platform as an opportunity to earn supplemental income and make ends meet. There are now over 45,000 Floridian hosts who share their homes via Airbnb, typically earning about $6,500 annually in supplemental income.
Airbnb reported that Escambia County had 62,000 visitors that used their service and paid $9.8 million for their rentals. Santa Rosa County had 23,500 Airbnb guests that paid $3.5 million for their rooms.
The company argued that statewide data indicates that Airbnb and its host community appear to be complementing—rather than competing with—the Florida hotel industry. 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.
This suggests that vacation rentals are 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.