It's no surprise that people trek from all over the East Coast to celebrate D.C.'s Capital Pride weekend—with many coming for the experience of celebrating in the nation's capital and others coming to be a part of the various political marches and demonstrations.
With the influx of people comes economic benefit, and homesharing platform Airbnb wasn't exempt. According to a report released by the company Friday, about 9,100 guests found a place to stay via Airbnb for 2017's Capital Pride June 8-11. Compare that to the reported 5,450 guests for 2016's celebration.
Airbnb also reports that the median price for a listing ranged $37 for a shared room to $140 for an entire home, and the 9,100 Airbnb guests yielded over $18 million in economic activity within the District.
Let's break down those numbers: Airbnb calculates economic activity numbers based on total guest spending and host income from the weekend. Guests to D.C. are surveyed at the end of each year about their Airbnb habits and travel spending, and based on those results, the company determines that D.C. guests spend about $191 each day of their trip, not including the price of their stay. Economic activity is guest spending ($14.5 million) and host income ($3.9 million) combined.
"The District’s Pride Weekend events are hugely popular among our growing and diverse community of hosts and guests, and we’re proud to continue providing travelers with more affordable accommodations and Washingtonians with a way to make extra money and meaningful connections,” said Will Burns, director of public policy for Airbnb, in a press release.
Organizers for Capital Pride and the national Equality March for Unity and Pride, which took place Sunday, June 11, estimated that over 200,000 people were expected to come to the District for the weekend's pride activities. But when we look at this, it's important to note that Airbnb's numbers are purely based on those who stayed in the District, not Maryland or Virginia.
Airbnb also reports that Capital Pride weekend saw a 34 percent increase in the number of guests compared to the weekend prior.
Image used via CC BY-SA 2.0 — credit Tim Evanson
