More visitors are staying in Airbnbs in Utah, where the prevalence of the home-sharing and vacation rental platform is outpacing some neighboring states.
About 7,100 hosts in Utah advertised lodging on Airbnb in 2018, each earning about $7,800, according to data released by the company this week.
In total, there were 761,100 “guest arrivals” in Utah in 2018, bringing a combined $97.6 million to hosts.
Predictably, Salt Lake County had the most guests, but Summit County brought in the most money. Stays there averaged $331 per guest (for a whole trip), more than three times the expense of stays in the rest of the state.
Apart from Salt Lake and Summit counties, desert tourism hubs in Washington and Grand counties brought in the most guests and the most earnings.
“The home sharing community provides significant value by expanding lodging capacity for Utah communities when hotels sell out during big events and big events,” Airbnb reps said. “These include Provo and Salt Lake City during college football weekends and mountain communities during ski season.”
Short-term rentals have become increasingly controversial in some of Utah’s tourism-heavy areas, as neighborhoods have fewer and fewer full-time residents. St. George in May passed an ordinance requiring a business license, insurance and tax payments. Moab has gone back and forth on restricting short-term rentals in certain residential zones.
Nevada saw about 120,000 more Airbnb guest-arrivals than Utah did last year, according to data provided by Airbnb. But Utah had far more guests and revenue than did Idaho and New Mexico.
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