During 2017 solar eclipse, Airbnb shoots for stars

Room-rental service Airbnb is another business getting a big local boost from Monday’s solar eclipse.

Airbnb hosts along the path of totality in Tennessee will have more than 13,200 guests, earning them $2.6 million in rent, according to Airbnb spokesman Ben Breit.

“The data concludes that Tennessee is — by a significant margin — the most popular U.S. state among Airbnb eclipse-goers, both in terms of guest arrivals and overall host income,” he said in a news release.

Kathleen and Meade Edmunds have been Airbnb hosts for about a year and a half, renting out their lake house; they also own Castleton Farms, a 108-acre wedding venue in Loudon, said Darla Walker, Castleton Farms executive director.

When Castleton Farms isn’t hosting a wedding, it has room for about 10 Airbnb guests; usually, though, it only draws 10 to 15 inquiries a year, Walker said.

But there is nothing usual about the eclipse weekend.

“This one has just gone crazy,” Walker said. Calls started coming in four months ago — some thanks to Airbnb, others from social media. Because of such interest, Castleton Farms isn’t just hosting overnight guests. It’s opening its acreage for public viewing.

“We have approximately 550 guests coming on property to view the eclipse,” Walker said. “Public viewing is $15 for adults and $5 for students, and children under 7 are free.”

Four days prior to the eclipse there was room for about 70 more, she said.

Nearly a quarter of those hosts along Tennessee’s eclipse path will be first-time Airbnb users, according to Breit. That’s due in part to solid pre-booking of hotels.

By early August, Nashville hotels were 104 percent booked for Sunday, Aug. 20, according to Cindy Dupree, director of communications for the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. All state park lodging and campgrounds were sold out, while Great Smoky Mountains National Park camp sites were about 80 percent full at that point, she said.

Nashville tourism officials were estimating 50,000 to 75,000 overnight guests, while their counterparts in Clarksville reported all hotel rooms sold out for two nights — nearly 11,000 people — with no way to count Airbnb or camping sites.

The average American tourist spends $106.50 per day, not counting lodging, Breit wrote, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. At that rate eclipse visitors in Tennessee may spend $1.41 million on Sunday and Monday, so Airbnb is asking its hosts to send their guests to local shops, restaurants and other businesses that usually don’t get much tourist traffic.

“We have approximately 550 guests coming on property to view the eclipse. Public viewing is $15 for adults and $5 for students, and children under 7 are free.” — DARLA WALKER, CASTLETON FARMS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR