Heartland couple talks Coronavirus impact on their Airbnb locations

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - We know the pandemic hit the travel industry hard, but that impact isn’t always the same as a pair of local business owners found out.

Sandy and Bill Tegel rent out Airbnb’s to customers in Missouri, Florida and Illinois.

“It’s different things about each one,” Tegel said.

They’re talking about the coronavirus and its impact on their different properties.

“So, like, our airbuses that were affected by the coronavirus really depended on state to state...” they said.

They said reservations never slowed down at their Airbnb at Lake of Egypt.

"I think it's more of cabin fever and people are wanting to come down on that water and get fresh air," they said.

They said their rentals in Florida took the biggest hit during the stay at home order.

“How that’s affected is because there were no rentals allowed,” they said.

In fact, the Tegel’s said the entire industry suffered across the Sunshine State.

All of the resorts down there and all the Airbnbs there were pretty much locked down, and that’s their big source of income

Back here in the Heartland, the couple said they lost some reservations at the Cape Girardeau locations.

“Most of those were booked based on weddings, than the reservations; they had to cancel those..” they said.

The Tegel’s said despite the number of stays in each state they’re thankful Airbnb had a plan to help hosts during this time.

“With Airbnb, they were reimbursing 25 percent,” they said.

And with bookings getting back to normal, the Tegel’s are getting back to work, making sure each location is sanitized to protect their guests.

“It’s a all day process and we do it ourselves,” they said.

Back in March, Airbnb reportedly spent $250 million helping hosts impacted by COVID-19 cancellations

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