Nearly 200K Fled NYC For Airbnbs Elsewhere In State This Summer

NEW YORK — New Yorkers love to escape the city in the summer, but thousands decided to stay in the Empire State, according to data from Airbnb. The home-sharing service's data shows more than 187,000 New York City residents booking stays in other parts of the state this summer.

Airbnb expected to record about 1.2 million guest arrivals statewide from Memorial Day through Labor Day, up from 933,000 in the summer of last year, the company said Thursday.

While the Big Apple was the top city of origin for Empire State guests, Airbnb expected more than 39,000 hosts in New York State to welcome travelers from a total of 203 countries over the summer, the company said.

"A record 1.2 million guest arrivals show that there is a huge demand for Airbnb during the summer months—with guests coming from all 50 states and 22,000 cities," Josh Meltzer, Airbnb's head of northeast policy, said in a statement. "It is also great to see that New Yorkers are also using Airbnb to stay in other New York communities."

The state's hosts this summer — 25 percent of whom were sharing their homes for the first time — were expected to make nearly $296 million, an increase from $234 million last summer, Airbnb said.

This summer also saw the City Council pass a new law forcing Airbnb and similar platforms to disclose information about their hosts, with significant fines for not complying. A similar move in San Francisco nearly halved the number of Airbnb listings there, the New York Post reported.

(Lead image: Photo from Shutterstock)