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Kentucky Airbnb hosts earned $19.2M from 166,000 guests in 2017; Covington third in guests, revenue


Airbnb, the world’s leading community driven hospitality company, has announced that its Kentucky host community earned a combined $19.2 million in supplemental income while welcoming approximately 166,000 guest arrivals to the state in 2017.

Covington was third among cities in the Commonwealth, with 5,230 guest arrivals and host income of $489,000.

The 166,000 guest arrivals to Kentucky via Airbnb represents 103 percent year-over-year growth. This comes as Kentucky residents increasingly embrace the home sharing platform as an opportunity to earn supplemental income and make ends meet. There are now lightly fewer than 3,500 Kentucky hosts who share their homes for via Airbnb, typically earning about $4,900 annually in supplemental income.

Home sharing delivered significant value throughout the state in 2018, including a $3.5 million impact for Louisville as hotels sold out for the Derby.

Top three Airbnb locations in Kentucky (provided)

Lexington hosts significantly expanded lodging capacity and offered affordable homes for parents during UK’s college commencement. And more rural areas of the state saw a massive influx during the August eclipse.

In addition to the new income going into the pockets of Kentucky Airbnb hosts, the state is generating new revenue through a historic tax agreement announced in October that allows Airbnb to collect and remit the Kentucky state sales tax on behalf of its hosts.

Airbnb will continue to update the public and its hosts on the extent to which this collaboration delivers new revenue for the state, and the company hopes to secure additional tax agreements with Kentucky municipalities in 2018.

Airbnb


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2 Comments

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