Airbnb hosts cash in on boom

THE Commonwealth Games has delivered a multimilliondollar boom for Airbnb hosts.

While hotels on the Gold Coast have slashed prices to try to fill thousands of empty rooms, travellers have rushed to book home-based accommodation.

Airbnb head of public policy Brent Thomas said more than 20,400 guests had booked for the Games, from April 4 to April 15.

“Every extra visitor in an Airbnb is one more person eating in a local cafe, shopping in a local store or having a beer in a local pub,” he said.

Hosts were set to earn more than $5 million from visitors over the Games period, with those on the Gold Coast pulling in an average $1500.

“The big winners are the savvy, entrepreneurial Queenslanders who are sharing their space or home. By opening their homes to guests, they are not only earning a little extra to make ends meet, but being brilliant ambassadors for their local communities,” Mr Thomas said.

More than half the Airbnb bookings — 11,000 — were on the Gold Coast, but other cities were doing well. Brisbane has 5700, Cairns 3000 and Townsville 700.

People from other parts of Australia comprised 13,750 of the guests, followed by 1960 from the UK and 630 New Zealanders.

There are 896 visitors from the United States booked across the four cities, but it is not known whether their trips are connected to the Games.