With hotels around downtown Cleveland booked up for the World Series, some travelers are turning to online home sharing sites. Airbnb’s Director of Midwest Policy, Michael O’Neil says he's seen a spike in bookings in Cleveland neighborhoods this week.
“I spoke to some hosts in Tremont & Ohio City. I know that they had an incredible surge in requests over the last week from all over the country from people wanting to come. Some are Cubs fans, some are Tribe fans and some are just baseball fans.”
Major sporting events typically bring a spike to the local “sharing economy.” O’Neil says game 6 of the NBA finals gave Airbnb its biggest day in the city.
“On the day of each home game hosted by the Cavaliers in the finals in June, Cleveland experienced an Airbnb guest surge ranging from 224-264% over the average daily arrivals to Cleveland. On the championship parade, Cleveland experienced a 202% spike in Airbnb travelers coming to Cleveland.”
There are more than 1100 Airbnb listings in Cleveland – some of them signed up as hosts during the Republican National Convention. On average about 290 people each day stay in the region using the online lodging site.
Airbnb won’t know for a few days just how many people stayed with Cleveland hosts for the first two games of the World Series. But O’Neil says neighborhoods outside the city center including North Collinwood and University Circle are benefitting from the home sharing market.
UPDATE: According to a press release from Airbnb, more than 850 people booked lodging through the site for the first two games of the World Series -- amounting to $330,000 in income for Cleveland hosts.
