VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — How far would you go for your perfect music festival? With Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water returning in April 2023, many in Hampton Roads won’t have to go far. For those outside the zone, however, Airbnb’s initial figures provided to 10 On Your Side give an idea of how far people are willing to travel and pay.
For the weekend of April 28-30, the top five cities people search for rentals in Virginia Beach are Roanoke (4.5 hours away), Newport News, Richmond and Washington DC, which hosted all three event days last year. There’s also a surprising outlier on the list: Elkhart, Indiana, which is 12 or 13 hours away by car.
The top five states for searches are Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.
The online short-term rental platform also hinted at how much money the festival could put into the hands of locals renting out their extra space. In 2019, Virginia Beach and Portsmouth alone raised $43,000 during the inaugural festival weekend.
“These peak and high-demand times, such as the Virginia Beach area during the music festival, will generate significant revenue for hosts and local communities – and these big events can provide a great starting point for many hosts. potential,” Haven Thorn, a spokesperson for the site, said in an email.
Thorn also noted that revenue from new hosts at all levels increased 34% from 2019 to 2021, to $1.8 billion in total.
We are already seeing ad prices rise for the SITW weekend as owners look to tap into the influx of attendees and the prices they are willing to pay. Many local hotels are also raising their prices significantly for this weekend.and several of them have already reported being booked on the day the festival was announced.
For Airbnb rentals, a chalet at the Old Lighthouse, which seats six, normally costs $480. It’s $2,000 a night this weekend. So there is old salt, which sleeps four. It normally costs $260 a night, but you’d have to pay $1,800 to get a good night’s sleep there.
If money is not an issue for you, you might be interested in staying at The Oasis. It has a large backyard, with plenty of space to relax around the pool. It costs $4,000 a night (normally just over $2,000), although it can accommodate 12 people, so your other wealthy friends can help you split the cost.
If you want to rent out a property or part of it that you reside in, Airbnb says they recently updated their onboarding process to make it easier to get started. More information can be found at airbnb.com/host.
Before logging in, however, be sure to check the ordinances and regulations in place in your local municipality. Each of the seven cities has different rules. In Virginia Beachfor example, most landlords must obtain a conditional use permit before they can make their property available.
In Norfolk, you may need to obtain a conditional use permit or zoning permit, as well as an operating permit. Other requirements such as paved parking for customers may also need to be met.
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