PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Adam Sugarman owns a two-bedroom apartment in Pittsfield but had difficulty finding regular tenants to occupy it.
So in the winter of 2015, Sugarman decided to take a “calculated risk.”
“I threw together some furnishings and put it up on Airbnb,” said Sugarman, who lives in Great Barrington. “I had some familiarity with short-term rentals. My brother and his wife were doing it in Miami. So I put it out there and it took off.”
The result?
“I lucked out,” he said. “I was booked for the whole spring.”
Sugarman isn’t the only county resident who has benefited from Airbnb, a peer-to-peer online marketplace and homestay network that enables people to list or rent short-term lodging in residential properties with the cost set by the property owner.
Founded in San Francisco in 2008, Airbnb has been active in the Berkshires since 2009. And, it’s beginning to make a significant economic impact on this area.
Guests staying at Airbnb facilities in Berkshire County generated $13 million in total economic activity, which includes spending at county stores and restaurants, in the 12-month period that ended on Oct. 1, according to the organization’s own figures. Local households that participated in the program earned $3.4 million during that same time span.
The annual earnings for a typical Berkshire County host were $3,900 during that time period. A total of 22,600 inbound guests took advantage of Airbnb in the Berkshires, a 43 percent increase in guest growth.
The service has 810 listings in the Berkshires, along with 63 hotels.
Statewide, Airbnb hosts earned more than $118 million sharing their homes between Oct. 1, 2015, and Oct. 1, 2016, with the typical host pocketing between $1,400 and $6,000 annually from home sharing. Hosting and guest activity brought nearly $430 million to the state of Massachusetts during that time span.
This is the first time that Airbnb has provided data for areas in Massachusetts other than Boston and Cambridge, said Will Burns, Airbnb’s senior adviser for the Mid-Atlantic region, which includes Massachusetts.
“For other states and jurisdictions we’ve released regional state and county data, but for the state of Massachusetts this is the first time we’ve released a comprehensive look at what our host communities look like,” he said.
“In my time on Beacon Hill I’ve talked to a lot of lawmakers around the state who were interested in what we’re doing,” Burns said. “This is something that we promised to deliver to give elected officials.”
1Berkshire President and CEO Jonathan Butler said he’s “very familiar” with Airbnb, having heard of the service from both clients and members. “I understand the sharing economy is part of our future,” he said.
“From a tourism perspective, 1Berkshire is very familiar with Airbnb and we’re continuing to work with our board and membership on all the different stakeholders in the tourism economy,” he said. “I’m not familiar with Airbnb’s internal numbers and would not want to comment on them.”
Sugarman, a customer service manager at the Berkshire Co-op Market in Great Barrington, said he’s had close to 100 guests at his Pittsfield apartment since listing the residence on Airbnb. The occupancy rate of the apartment this year has been 44 percent, he said.
“I’ve been a customer a couple of times,” he said. ’Those experiences have been good in terms of hosting company and being the host of a location. For my wife and I, it’s important that we have access to a kitchen when we travel. That makes hotels less attractive to us.”
“It’s also worked on the flip side,” Sugarman said. “The guests I’ve had have been fine. I haven’t had any trouble with enrollment.”
Almost all of the guests who take advantage of Airbnb’s services in the Berkshires (94 percent) come from the United States, according to Airbnb’s numbers The top city for Berkshire guests is New York City at 16 percent with Boston second at 10 percent. The numbers from New York City may actually be higher, because guests who also list their primary residences as either Brooklyn or Manhattan each make up an additional 3 percent of the total number of guests who use Airbnb in the Berkshires.
Airbnb’s Berkshire properties include all kinds of residences, everything from apartments to cabins, cottages to country homes and “ski homes.” An Otis resident even describes a listed property as an “octagonal tree house.”
“The house was a delightful retreat,” a man named Martin wrote in a review that he posted on the octagonal tree house’s webpage. “The amenities were good and the private woodland location was perfect.”
“I allow people to bring dogs to my apartment,” Sugarman said. “I’m a dog fan.”
___
Information from: The Berkshire (Mass.) Eagle, https://www.berkshireeagle.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.