Airbnb reports huge jump in El Paso bookings last year, says it’s not hurting local hotels
EL PASO, Texas -- Home-sharing website Airbnb said Monday that El Paso area homeowners saw a huge increase in rentals of their homes and spare rooms last year.
The company said El Pasoans booked around 6,800 guests alone during the five biggest travel weekends of 2019, which were holiday periods, accounting for $1.1 million.
Airbnb didn't provide an annual overall total in terms of dollars, but said guest visits for the year were up 87% from the previous year and income from home-sharing rentals jumped 102%.
“Last year was a big year for Airbnb in the El Paso area," Airbnb proclaimed in a news release.
In that release, San Francisco-based Airbnb said its' growth in El Paso hadn't come at the expense of local hotels.
"This growth appears to be complementing rather than competing with local hotels, as hotels set occupancy records and see rises in daily rate and revenue," the company said.
Airbnb spokesman Sam Randall told ABC-7 the claim is supported by Destination El Paso's annual report for fiscal year 2018/2019. The report noted that hotel occupancy in the city rose to 76.3% from 69.9% in the prior fiscal year; it also cited a more than 15% increase in hotel revenues.
However, Airbnb does not collect El Paso's 17.5% hotel tax on its bookings, according to city officials. Randall told ABC-7 that "Airbnb is always willing to partner with El Paso to collect and remit occupancy taxes, as it has with more than 400 local jurisdictions across the U.S."
