As people prepare for a busy summer season, vacation rental site Airbnb says travelers are setting their sights on Montana, and in a big way.
Airbnb said this week that Montana is one of the top trending states for travelers this summer. And here’s why: The vacation rental site says people are looking to escape to rural areas.
In 2015, rural travel accounted for less than 10 percent of nights booked globally, but now in 2021 rural travel is accounting for more than double that with bookings.
This means travelers are looking for cities and states with the fewest hotel rooms and Montana ranks 39th in terms of hotel capacity.
Airbnb says three of the top-ten destinations this summer are in Montana:
- Whitefish Mountain, MT (near Glacier National Park)
- South County, RI
- Bancroft-Madawaska, Canada (near Algonquin Provincial Park)
- Panama City Beach, FL
- West Yellowstone, MT (near Yellowstone)
- Florida Panhandle
- Northern Wisconsin (near Lake Superior and Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest)
- Hilton Head Island, SC
- Black Hills, SD (near Black Hills National Forest and Mount Rushmore)
- Miramar Beach, FL
- Park County, MT
- Michigan Upper Peninsula (Great Lakes, Hiawatha National Forest)
- Acadia National Park
But visitors to Montana might be facing high prices. We searched for the most expensive vacation rental in the state and found this: the Alpine Falls Ranch, just outside Superior northwest of Missoula, is a 10-bedroom, 14-bath home that houses up to 16 guests. It's usually around $8,000 a night to book, although the site says right now it's going for roughly $4,500 a night.
