TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The saying goes “home is where the heart is”, and that’s exactly the kind of environment Bree Richmond and Claude Bailey IV, the owners of Short Term Rentals Tucson, want to create.
“That’s one of the reasons we love doing this, is we get to meet people from every where,” Richmond said.
They own 4 rentals and have a total of 13 listings across Tucson and Oro Valley. They’ve been experiencing a surge in sales this week and last week, and said the Gem Show brings a lot of customers to their rentals.
They said most of their listings have been reserved since last fall.
“Some of our listings are a little newer. As soon as we listed them though, the days got snatched up right away,” Richmond said.
As for travelers, they said they stay anywhere from two days to a month, and said Gem Show vendors usually stay longer.
Even though they raised their prices, they said traditionally, their sales go up the highest out of the entire year the week leading up to the show and the week before.
“We probably make about 3 and a half to 4 times as much per night as we would in the regular year.”
They said they also get the most customers when the University of Arizona has events like Homecoming or parents weekend.
Elizabeth Cazares also owns a short term rental in Tucson near Casino Del Sol.
“You get to interact with a bunch of different type of people,” Cazares said about her clients.
She said some Gem Show travelers stay for a long time, and said her latest booking stayed from January 22 until February 10.
She said Gem Show travelers start booking months in advance, as far as July or even June. She said even though the Airbnb app told people her rental is booked, she still got people asking her whether she had availability, but said she had to turn them away.
“You can book one day in advance and if it’s not busy, you can check in,” she said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
