Airbnbs bring business to Shenandoah County

Published: May. 23, 2022 at 5:48 PM EDT

SHENANDOAH COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) - Airbnb ownership and revenue have been on the rise in rural areas since the start of the pandemic.

”67% of these surveyed guests in Virginia reported that they would not have visited the neighborhood they stayed in if they did not book through Airbnb,” Haven Thorn, communications manager for Airbnb, said.

Shenandoah County and Page County rank as the top two rural areas in Virginia, bringing in more than 17.5 million dollars combined back in 2021.

”People are...staying longer and expanding out from cosmopolitan cities and exploring more rural parts of the country,” Thorn said.

Thorn attributes much of the success of Airbnb in the past two years to the amount of teleworking people do now, leaving them eager to get out of their own home space.

Before the pandemic, Shenandoah County had around 200 Airbnbs, and in the two-year time span, the county now has more than 400 active listings with Airbnb.

”You have locations like Shenandoah and Page that really offer the type of amenities that people are looking to take advantage of post-pandemic: getting outdoors, getting away in the great open-air and hiking trails,” Jenna French, director of tourism for Shenandoah County, said.

French said they have seen a lot of growth in small enterprises and small businesses as a result of the booming Airbnb business.

”They are shopping at our local groceries and small farmer’s markets to stock up their kitchens on things they might need and they’re going to the local restaurants and they’re going to the vineyards ... they’re shopping,” French said.

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