Midwest Home Sharing for Major Events Top Weekend Spikes on the Airbnb Platform Across the Heartland

Midwest Home Sharing for Major Events Top Weekend Spikes on the Airbnb Platform Across the Heartland INTRODUCTION Earlier this summer, we shared data about the broad impact of home sharing in our largest 14 markets in the Midwest. Across the region, the number of guests using the platform has continued to grow more than 100 percent year-over-year, making it possible for thousands of local hosts to make ends meet. Meanwhile, for travelers, Airbnb has created an afordable way to authentically explore every corner of the world. To date, more than 100 million people have stayed in Airbnb listings around the globe. But as the platform grows globally, the impact is being felt locally. In particular, home sharing benefts local economies when cities host large events that trigger large surges in inbound travelers. The unique nature of the Airbnb platform allows cities to appropriately scale their lodging capacity with existing resources (people’s homes) even for massive events, like the Kentucky Derby and Indy 500, which bring hundreds of thousands of visitors. Thanks to home sharing, gone are the days where parents of rising college seniors feel compelled to book hotel rooms a year in advance of Graduation Day. Festival-goers are now fexible to live like locals and experience cities outside of the traditional business districts. And sports fans hoping to catch their teams in the playofs can rest assured that they’ll be able to fnd afordable rooms on short notice. MIDWEST SPIKE DATA Among the 14 largest home sharing markets in the Midwest, every city experienced at least a 225% increase over its average number of inbound visitors at some point. All of these spikes aligned directly with a major event being hosted by each city at the time. This report - featuring data compiled from July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016 - provides a comprehensive overview of home sharing spikes in the Midwest, ranging from Louisville to Omaha. Day with Increase in Inbound Guests in City Largest Visitors Over Coinciding Event Last Year Inbound Spike Average Day Louisville 32,400 May 7 968% Kentucky Derby Indianapolis 20,400 May 29 830% Indy 500 Omaha 11,100 June 26 732% College World Series Detroit 20,000 May 28 343% Movement Electronic Festival Columbus 18,700 May 22 335% Rock on the Range University of Wisconsin Madison 14,100 May 14 335% Commencement Ceremony Milwaukee 13,500 June 25 298% Summerfest Cincinnati Pride Cincinnati 17,300 June 25 286% Pete Rose Hall of Fame Weekend Rockfest University of Missouri-KC Kansas City 25,100 May 14 267% Commencement Ceremony Cleveland 15,200 June 11 263% NBA Finals (Cavaliers) St. Louis 27,900 May 22 253% NHL Conference Finals (Blues) Chicago 315,400 June 13 238% NeoCon World Trade Fair Minneapolis/ St. Paul 39,800 June 24 225% Twin Cities Pride MAJOR MIDWEST EVENTS All of the Midwest spikes aligned with a major event in the respective markets which prompted a surge in visitors. Those events can be broken down into the following categories: • Annual Sporting Events • Playof Sporting Events • University Graduations • LGBTQ Pride Festivals and Parades • Industry Trade Conferences • Music Festivals Annual Sporting Events • Indianapolis’ home sharing spike coincided with the annual Indy 500, which remains the largest single-day sporting event in the world.1 The 2016 race was the frst in history to sell out entirely, with an estimated attendance of over over 350,000 people.2 With Marion County hotels selling out early due to the unprecedented demand, the Airbnb platform efectively expanded the city’s capacity to host all of the fans and keep their tourism dollars within the corporate limits of Indianapolis. • Louisville’s home sharing spike coincided with the highly anticipated Kentucky Derby. The 2016 Derby was the second most attended in history, with over 167,000 fans.3 Jeferson County’s hotels also typically sell out well in advance of Derby Weekend,4 giving Louisville Airbnb hosts opportunities to welcome additional travelers and keep their tourist dollars within the local community. • Cincinnati’s home sharing spike coincided with the Pete Rose’s into the Red Hall of Fame, which the Reds organization turned into a highly anticipated 3-day celebration.5 Rose - the Reds legend and all- time MLB hits leader - was joined by nearly every living Reds star for the emotional event, which spurred sell-out crowds (over 120,000 people overall) throughout the weekend.6 1 Indianapolis Motor Speedway: https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500/news-multimedia/news/2016/05/25/historic-sellout- marks-100th-running-of-the-indy-500-2016 2 Indianapolis Star: www.indystar.com/story/sports/2016/05/25/things-100th-indy-500s-projected-attendance-big/84942590/ 3 Churchill Downs Incorporated: https://www.churchilldowns.com/racing-wagering/news/second-highest-attendance-in-track-history-as-167,227-fans- watch-undefeated-nyquist-win-the-142nd-kentucky-derby 4 Louisville Business First: www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2015/04/29/even-with-more-capacity-hotel-bookings-spike-for.html 5 Cincinnati Enquirer: www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2016/06/25/pete-rose-reds-hof-biggest-thing-ever/86385926/ 6 Lexington Herald-Leader: www.kentucky.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/john-clay/article86123942.html Playof Sporting Events • Cleveland’s home sharing spike coincided with Lebron James and the hometown Cavaliers hosting the NBA Finals. The Cavs earned a Finals berth on May 27 after defeating Toronto. However, because the Western Conference Finals featured one team (Golden State) with a better regular season record than Cleveland and one team (Oklahoma City) with a worse regular season record, home court advantage for the Finals games wasn’t resolved until Golden State’s Game 7 win on May 30. Given the limited window to coordinate travel and lodging for the Cavs’ home games (which began on June 8), Cleveland ex-pats, Warriors fans and the NBA’s business partners beneftted greatly from the fexibility of the Airbnb platform. • Omaha’s home sharing spike coincided with the College World Series. The event is an annual Omaha staple, however the teams (and corresponding visitors) change every year. This June, Coastal Carolina embarked on a shocking underdog journey to the World Series Finals, where they took on longtime power program Arizona. Omaha’s 500 Airbnb hosts helped accommodate thousands of fans from South Carolina and Arizona who focked to Nebraska on short notice to witness Coastal Carolina complete the historic upset. • St. Louis’ home sharing spike coincided with the NHL Conference Finals, where the Blues took on the San Jose Sharks. San Jose’s Game 2 win guaranteed the series would return to St. Louis for Game 5, giving fans less than a week to work out travel logistics back to the Gateway City. The Sharks won both Games 5 and 6 in St. Louis to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. College Graduations • Madison’s home sharing spike coincided with the Spring Commencement Ceremony for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the largest colleges in the nation and an integral part of the Madison community. Tens of thousands of family and friends traveled to Madison that weekend in support and celebration of the 6,500 students who received their degrees.7 • Kansas City’s home sharing spike coincided with the Spring Commencement Ceremony for the University of Missouri-Kansas City. UMKC is the largest university in Kansas City, with an enrollment of over 16,500.8 LGBTQ Pride • Home sharing spikes for Minneapolis and St. Paul coincided with Twin Cities Pride, which is one of the largest LGBTQ pride festivals in the world. Between the parade and corresponding pride events, the festival drew over 400,000 attendees,9 who the 800 Airbnb hosts within Minneapolis and St. Paul helped accommodate. 7 University of Wisconsin-Madison: http://news.wisc.edu/commencement-spotlight-class-of-2016/ 8 University of Missouri System: https://www.umsystem.edu/ums/about/facts/#kc 9 Minneapolis Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/hennepin-av-parade-today-caps-off-twin-cities-pride-festivities/384437301/ • In addition to the Pete Rose Hall of Fame induction, Cincinnati Pride contributed to the city’s home sharing spike. An expected crowd of 90,000 people converged on Sawyer Point to celebrate LGBTQ pride and memorialize victims of the Orlando shooting that took place just two weeks earlier.10 Industry Trade Conferences • Chicago’s home sharing spike coincided with the arrival of attendees for the NeoCon World Trade Fair. NeoCon is the largest design trade conference in North America, bringing 50,000 industry professionals annually to Chicago’s world famous Merchandise Mart.11 With most of Chicago’s hotels concentrated in and near the city’s Loop, design professionals in for NeoCon experienced a diverse array of Chicago’s 75+ distinct neighborhoods through the Airbnb platform. Music Festivals • Milwaukee’s home sharing spike coincided with the run-up to Summerfest, billed as “The World’s Largest Music Festival.” Summerfest 2016 - headlined by Paul McCartney, Sting and Selena Gomez - experienced 4.1% growth with over 800,000 attendees. While the festival did not begin until June 28, the mass arrival of over 2,000 seasonal stafers as well as producers, vendors and band crews initiated a spike on June 25.12 • Detroit’s home sharing spike coincided with Movement Electronic Music Festival, the legendary event that celebrates Detroit’s pioneering role in the birth of techno music. This year’s Movement - headlined by Kraftwerk, the storied German pop band - attracted more than 100,000 people to the Motor City over Memorial Day Weekend.13 • Columbus’ home sharing spike coincided with Rock on the Range, billed as the largest heavy metal festival in the world.

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