Formula One flocked to Airbnb as they made plans for the United States Grand Prix.
Airbnb, the temporary lodging app, reported that roughly 13,000 people reserved rooms through its service in Austin, Texas, for the race weekend, according to the East Austin Patch. That represents a 42 percent increase compared to 2016, when Circuit of the Americas reported record-high attendance, with 269,889 people visiting the track during the F1 event, according to Autoweek.
The trend apparently is a good thing for the local economy, as Airbnb claims that its users tend to stay longer and spend more money than people who stay in hotels.
“So this revenue can be very significant for the local Austin community,” Airbnb said in a statement. “Thirty-one percent of the people who travel on Airbnb say they would have stayed home or would not have stayed as long but for Airbnb.”
It’s unclear whether the U.S. Grand Prix had a better turnout in 2017 than in 2016, contributing to the dramatic increase in Airbnb usage. COTA tweeted Monday that this year’s event was its “biggest and best” F1 race yet, though it didn’t note exactly how many people it hosted throughout the weekend.
Thumbnail photo via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
