AUSTIN, Texas — March is one of the busiest months for the city of Austin, with visitors coming in from around the word for spring events like South by Southwest, Dell Match Play, Rodeo Austin and more.
That means it’s also a busy time for the local hospitality industry. One local Airbnb host says they've been booked for SXSW for almost a year.
"We've had a great run during South by Southwest this year," said Joe Arenella, Austin Airbnb host. "We actually ended up having three sets of guests."
Arenella and his wife have been renting out their guest room since 2014.
"I did a little research, put it on Airbnb, and it was during one of the first Formula One races and it booked in 30 minutes," Arenella said. "And I thought, 'Whoa, this is going to be, this can be pretty good."
Large events and festivals like SXSW are what Airbnb was founded on.
"Airbnb's history and growth is rooted in helping cities scale accommodations for major civic, sporting and creative events like South by Southwest in Austin," said Haven Thorn, communications manager for North America at Airbnb.
During SXSW, Arenella makes 40% more on his rental. And with his rental being only half a mile from Downtown Austin, he did not have trouble getting booked.
"Every single day is booked during South by," Arenella said.
This year, his guests came from all over.
"The first set was four girls that came in from Chicago," Arenella said. "They all stayed up there and it was like glamping … Then we had a panelist speaker that came in and she was only here for a couple of nights. And then we have some guests from London that actually came last year for the music portion and came back this year."
Although the rental brings in additional income, for Arenella and his wife, it's about more than just the money.
“We live here on premise, and my wife and I take care of it ourselves,” Arenella said. “And every time a guest comes in, we clean it and flip it, and we put a nice bottle of wine and a handwritten note and welcome the guests. And we've actually made some great connections over the years doing this. It's been a lot of fun.”
Last year, Austin Airbnb hosts collectively earned nearly $13 million from SXSW. So far this year, we're still waiting to see the numbers come in from rentals as well as hotels.