The City Advertising and Promotion Commission was given a demonstration of AirDNA’s dashboard during their workshop last Wednesday, June 11. AirDNA is a data analytics company that specializes in short-term rentals, specifically regarding AirBNB and VRBO.
Amanda Norton, representing AirDNA, provided the demo showing how the CAPC will be able to see data such as revenue of area short-term rentals, how far out customers are booking their stay, occupancy rate, as well as historical data on short-term rental rates dating back to 2014.
Data can even be curated to show week-to-week information, length of stays, and how much short-term rentals are charging each night. They will also be able to compare their data with the data of up to 25 other destinations to see how the city’s short term rental market compares competitively.
The CAPC will be voting on whether to contract with AirDNA at their regular meeting next Wednesday, June 25. The annual cost would be $10,800.
In the budget review, which only includes through April, the actual collections for Jan. – April were $493,000 with an annual budget of $2,106,000. Finance Director Ty Reed noted that to meet the budget the next eight months of the year would need to average collections of $201,625 and that last year’s average collections for the same period were $190,000.
Reed also noted that the annual budget for marketing funds is $75,000 and the CAPC has expended $65,000 of that line item. Chair Steve Holifield said that he’d also like to see a presentation at the end of the year on group sales to justify the staff member.
During the workshop, Jack Moyer spoke on the cost of hosting the Blues Party festival saying that when the CAPC evaluates if a festival or event is worthy of funding, they need to look at how the event affects the greater image of Eureka Springs. He said that Blues Party, a six-figure festival, was not a profitable event but “creating an image of the destination is a real key component.”