The next big STR market isn't a city. It's a town most people can't point to on a map. New data from Airbnb shows 74% of Gen Z travelers are choosing lesser-known towns over major cities for their next trip, with over half actively avoiding crowded tourist spots. Airbnb's new "have u considered" campaign is leaning into it, spotlighting places like Hot Springs, AR, Bemidji, MN, and Gibsonton, FL as legitimate destinations, not afterthoughts. For STR owners, this is a signal worth paying attention to. The market isn't rewarding the biggest name on the map anymore, it's rewarding the property that gives guests a story to tell first. Strategic design is what turns an under-the-radar location into a booked-out one. Source: Airbnb.com

Hi Design STR team — I really enjoyed your insights and had a few questions. I’ve been doing STR for about 7 years in Pine Mountain Lake, a gated lake, outdoors and golf community about 40 minutes from Yosemite National Park. Historically, we rented to families and slept 8 guests. Last year I upgraded a lot of the furniture, added more amenities, and about 3 months ago increased capacity to 10 guests (which we sleep comfortably. Since then, we’ve started attracting more groups of friends instead of primarily families. I’m trying to better understand how to do market and guest research more proactively instead of re actively. Specifically: - How do you identify the top-performing listings in your area? - What tools or methods do you use to research guest demographics and travel behavior? - Where do you find information about who is traveling to your area and what types of travelers tend to spend more? - How do you determine whether your market is “behind” or “ahead” compared to more advanced STR markets? How do you know which markets are similar and more advanced? - When researching guests, what signals help you understand whether your market attracts budget travelers vs. higher-end travelers? - How do you know which amenities or design upgrades are actually influencing booking behavior? - For an existing property that already has years of rental history, how would you approach repositioning the guest avatar strategically? We are in a very seasonal, summer-heavy market, so I’m especially interested in how to better understand evolving traveler behavior around Yosemite and outdoor destination markets. Would love to hear where you all gather your research and how you think about these shifts strategically. Thank you