Airbnb has announced guest totals and economic impact data in connection with the recent major college commencement weekends throughout Indiana.

Local hotels are known to fill up well in advance of the respective commencement ceremonies, as parents and loved ones converge on the cities in massive numbers. In recent years, local homeowners in Bloomington, Tippecanoe County and South Bend have substantially expanded lodging capacity for the cities through home sharing, allowing parents to affordably travel even once hotels reach full occupancy.

For Bloomington, local hosts earned a combined $336,000 in supplemental income while welcoming 1,550 guest arrivals during IU’s commencement (May 3-4). This represented the largest surge of guests to Bloomington in the history of Airbnb’s platform.

For Tippecanoe County, local hosts earned a combined $57,000 in supplemental income while welcoming 600 guest arrivals during Purdue’s commencement (May 10-12). This represented the largest surge of guests to Tippecanoe County in the history of Airbnb’s platform.

As of now, for South Bend, local hosts are slated to earn a combined $322,000 in supplemental income this coming weekend while welcoming 1,600 guest arrivals during Notre Dame’s commencement (May 18-19). This will represent the fifth largest surge of guests to South Bend in the history of Airbnb’s platform (behind a handful of big football weekends).

Airbnb previously announced that its St. Joseph County host community earned $5.3 million in income in 2018 (#2 in the state), while hosts in Monroe County earned $3.1 million (#3 in the state) and hosts in Tippecanoe County earned $1.1 million (#6 in the state)

This economic impact comes on the heels of the Indiana State Legislature overwhelmingly passing a bill early in 2018 which protected the right to homeshare and set state standards for short-term rentals throughout Indiana. The bill has since been signed into law by Governor Holcomb.