This year Airbnb hosts in Centre County saw the most visitors and income during Penn State Football weekends ever.
With about 3,000 hotel rooms available in State College, there’s just not nearly enough supply to meet the demand for Penn State Home Football games. That’s where Airbnb’s come in.
With about 3,000 hotel rooms available in State College, there’s just not nearly enough supply to meet the demand for Penn State home Football games. That’s where Airbnb’s come in.
Liam Goble owns four Airbnb houses in State College.
“We had a number of first time guests stay at our homes,” Goble, said.
He started renting out homes for Airbnb 3 years ago and it’s starting to pay off now.
“Over the past year and a half, more and more people are comfortable with renting somebody’s house and are more familiar with what airbnb offers,” Goble said.
This year hosts in Centre County earned a total of $2.2 million with more than 10,000 guests during Penn State home Football weekends.
That’s .8 million dollars more and nearly 3,000 more guests than 2017.
“The income that comes in through Airbnb helps a lot of homeowners locally cover cost of their mortgage, which gives them options then to shop locally,” Goble, said.
Goble says having Airbnb as an option is a great alternative for visitors.
He says even his family friends have a hard time finding a hotel room during football season in State College.
“The closest hotel they could find was on the Harrisburg side of the narrows or Altoona,” Goble, said. “I had a house available that they could stay in and so the family friends were fortunate to stay in that house.”
For Penn State’s Senior Day on Saturday, there’s an estimated 520 Airbnb guests in Centre County, which translates to $65,000 for hosts.