Airbnb hosts in Bend earned a collective $7 million in 2016, the company announced in a press release.

Bend is the second-most popular Oregon destination, behind Portland, Airbnb said.

Airbnb also reported that its Bend hosts shared their homes with 52,000 guests last year, an 81 percent increase over 2015.

The numbers come as no surprise to Kevney Dugan, executive director of Visit Bend. Last summer, hotels in Bend were about 90 percent occupied.

“Within the hotel industry, that’s as close to full as you’re going to get,” he said. “There’s going to be a demand that’s not being satisfied by a traditional hotel room.”

The growth of the vacation-rental business has rubbed some Bend residents raw, and in 2015 the city passed new regulations designed to ensure that vacation rentals don’t take over entire neighborhoods. Under the rules, two rentals can’t be within 250 feet of each other if approved after April 2015. Rental owners must also purchase an operating license from the city, which must be annually renewed.

As of November there were more than 680 licensed vacation rentals, down slightly since the rule change.

In addition, Airbnb agreed to begin collecting lodging tax, which is 10.4 percent per night, on behalf of its hosts. The collections began Oct. 1, and the city received $163,969, city spokeswoman Anne Aurand said.

Airbnb says the median earnings for Bend hosts was $9,700, and the median number of rentals was 46 nights. As of Feb. 1, the company counted 500 hosts in Bend.

Airbnb listings in Bend run the gamut, including spare bedrooms, whole houses, historic cottages in the city’s core and suburban duplexes.

— Reporter: 541-617-7860, kmclaughlin@bendbulletin.com