Airbnb Books Record Number For Inauguration
Airbnb will have its “biggest night ever” in Washington, D.C. for the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration and the following weekend, the company announced Friday. More than 15,000 people used the online marketplace to book accommodations during the three-day period and 13,000 booked on the night of the ceremony. That’s eight times the number of people who used the app to find a place to stay during President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013.
Authorities in the nation's capital were preparing for an influx of up to one million people into the city, with an unusually large number of protesters this year, the Washington Post reported. In 2013, the same number of people attended Obama’s inauguration, compared to the record number of 1.8 million in 2009. President George W. Bush, by comparison, drew 400,000 in 2005, and President Bill Clinton saw a crowd of 800,000 in 1993.
While the San Francisco-based home sharing company estimated the uptick in lodgings through the platform would bring Washington and surrounding parts of Maryland and Northern Virginia more than $10 million, hotels were also set to rake in the benefits.
As an analysis by Quartz found, hotels in the District of Columbia tend to jack up their prices for inauguration weekends, with average rates for the night of Obama’s swearing-in hitting more than $600 per night — and dozens of them had zero vacancies for this year’s ceremony as of mid-November.
The ceremony and the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue were open to the public to view from afar, but those who want to get one of the 250,000 tickets for designated seats on the National Mall need to contact their senators or House representatives, who received tickets on Tuesday and Monday, respectively. They were fielding online requests for the passes from their constituents, according to local broadcaster NBC4.
Most of those tickets, if they’re not already gone, will go to the members of Congress themselves, as they’re regarded as the event’s hosts. Those without a ticket can brave both the cold and the crowds of hundreds of thousands on Capitol Hill by snagging a spot on Pennsylvania Avenue. As for where to spend the night, they might have to stay with friends or family, or get an Airbnb.
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