74% of Gen Z want small town trips over big cities—three creatives lead the way

Key Takeaways

• Airbnb is launching ‘have u considered’ pairing Precious Renee Tucker, Zack Fox and Xaviersobased with three hidden gem US towns as destination insiders.
  
  
• 63% of Gen Z travelers said being one of the first people they know to visit a place feels like a status symbol, and over 50% avoid tourist destinations because they’re too crowded to enjoy.
  
  

Gen Z is done waiting for a place to trend before booking it. Nearly half of Gen Z’s trending fall destinations this year are small towns rather than major cities or well-known hotspots, according to internal Airbnb data ¹. To meet that shift, we’re launching ‘have u considered,’ a campaign that reframes three under-the-radar American towns as must-visit destinations. Pianist Precious Renee Tucker, comedian, multihyphenate Zack Fox, and rapper-producer Xaviersobased are stepping in as destination insiders, each introducing their own audience to a town most people have never thought to visit: Hot Springs, AR; Bemidji, MN; and Gibsonton, FL.

A companion survey found that 74 percent of Gen Z travelers are likely to choose a small or lesser-known town over a major city for a leisure trip in the next 12 months, and 63 percent said being early to a place feels like a status symbol ².

Affordability remains a driving factor for Gen Z group travel—58 percent say an affordable total price is the most important feature when choosing where to stay; 70 percent still want to prioritize fun travel even when money is tight ³.

‘have u considered’ marks the start of a broader shift toward off-the-map American destinations, and with millions of hosts offering stays far beyond the well-worn tourist map, Airbnb is where travelers can find homes in not just these three towns, but countless other hidden gems still waiting to be discovered.

Hot Springs, AR, with Precious Renee Tucker

Tucker, the Arkansas-born pianist known for playing four keyboards at once, brings a personal connection to Hot Springs—a city built around the thermal springs that made it one of the country’s first federally protected destinations, predating Yellowstone by 40 years. Beyond Bathhouse Row’s historic Victorian-era bathhouses, downtown Hot Springs is a walkable mix of live music venues, lake access, and historic architecture.

“Nature needs no marketing plan,” said Tucker, who is a believer that hidden gem destinations help visitors take pause and reflect. “What’s currently available in terms of the Western history/advertisement seems committed to spotlight what can be easily seen or understood, supernatural sensitivities can get lost in translation if there’s a rush to translate, distractions from daydreaming, the luxury of boredom revoked.”

Guests can experience Hot Springs the way Tucker does, from a walkable cottage to a stay overlooking the lake:

Bayou Lake House on Lake Hamilton

Gibsonton, FL, with Xaviersobased

For Xaviersobased, Gibsonton’s legacy as the winter headquarters of the American circus and carnival industry—where performers once kept exotic animals on their own properties and built homes as unusual as their acts—was an easy fit for his own ethos. Just south of Tampa along the Alafia River, the town earned the nickname “Showtown, USA” for the sideshow legends, from giants to bearded ladies, who called it home during the off-season.

“’Gibsonton is for sure based and fits this philosophy because the town is wacky, different and follows its own rules,” said Xaviersobased. He knows small town travel is having its moment, “the new generation is always down to discover these crazy new places.”

Guests can stay along the same river that once anchored Gibsonton’s sideshow community:

Modern Waterfront Home • Large Yard • Secluded

Bemidji, MN, with Zack Fox

Fox sees the hidden-gem travel moment as a reaction to feeling sold to everywhere else. “This generation is hungry to find and make spaces where they’re not being sold something every two seconds,” said Fox. “Once you escape the big cities you see the kids thriving in a new way.”

Fox said Airbnb fits how he actually travels. “I travel spontaneously and I consistently need new strange experiences, and Airbnb is the only app that can keep up,” he said.

For Fox, the appeal of a town like Bemidji is what’s missing as much as what’s there. “Seeing how real Americans live, and the diversity of layouts outside of urban environments,” he said. “I’m an actor so I like prioritizing time to hang out and absorb real life without the noise of ‘networking’ culture or social media metrics. Americans are hilarious and you gotta go find them.”

Asked to make the case for Bemidji over a more Instagram-famous destination, Fox didn’t hold back: “Stop being scared to change your brain chemistry with unfamiliar experiences, it’s unbecoming.”

Guests looking to unplug the way Fox describes can find their own version of it in Bemidji:

The White House

¹Based on Airbnb internal data on Q2 2026 searches for September 1 – November 30, 2026 check-ins vs. Q2 2025 searches for September 2 – December 1, 2025 check-ins by US Gen Z travelers.

²This survey was conducted online within the United States by Focaldata on behalf of Airbnb from July 27–29, 2026 among 1017 US Gen Z adults ages 18–29.

³This survey was conducted online within the United States by Focaldata on behalf of Airbnb from July 27–29, 2026 among 1017 US Gen Z adults ages 18–29.

About Airbnb

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5.5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2.5 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, hosts offer unique stays, experiences, and services that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.