The hottest place to book a Airbnb in the US this past summer wasn’t New York, Los Angeles or Miami — but an itty bitty rural city in Washington where it’s hot and dry all season long.
Indeed, according to data released by the short-term rental company, the barely 8,000-person Columbia River-adjacent burg of Quincy in the sunny middle of the state was the top trending destination in America during the summer of 2024.
And there could be one, very big reason why — Quincy’s close proximity to the LiveNation-managed Gorge Amphitheatre in nearby, even tinier George, Wash.
The stunning outdoor arena has recently hosted performances everyone from Bob Dylan to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Willie Nelson.
Seeking to better understand, the Seattle Times contacted Airbnb for explanations as to how the middle-of-nowhere town became so popular this summer, but representatives didn’t have much in the way of answers, citing the fact that customers aren’t mandated to share the reason they’re traveling somewhere when they make reservations.
Rachelle Baughman, marketing director for the Grant County Tourism Commission, however, cited local data centers that hire temporary help as a possible explanation for the uptick in booking queries.
“They’re coming in to help get these tech startups going, and then they’re leaving,” Baughman told the publication. “They’re seeing a lot of Airbnb rentals that way.”
As well, Baughman said that Quincy offers a lovely small town America energy and stunning access to a beautiful, normally less-traveled part of the Pacific Northwest.
“Everybody was coming as strangers and then they knew everybody,” she said of recent newcomers. “So we’re known as a friendly town, and people really like this town.”
As for the other ranked locales on Airbnb’s surprising list of summer destinations, second place went to Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, far from a tourism hotspot. Third place went to the more predictable Las Vegas.
In terms of global top spots, coastal Brighton and Hove in the United Kingdom, a popular getaway for nearby London, took the gold.
The typically less-touristed city of Dortmund, Germany took the Bronze, while the silver went to Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain — perhaps for its close proximity to the Costa de la Luz, a favorite summer destination among trendy Madrileños.