I am of two minds about AirBNB. Like many of these so-called “sharing economy” startups it is great for customers – travelers, in this case – but can have drawbacks for the communities and workers who make it possible. In tourist-heavy areas, AirBNB can drive out residents because it’s more profitable to rent our rooms via the net than to rent living space.
With that in mind, I was interested to look at the data AirBNB released about its summer rentals in NH, showing that they’re far more popular in the White Mountain region than in tourism-heavy areas like the Lakes Region or Seacoast. I suspect this is due to a relative shortage of traditional hotels up there, but that’s just a guess.
By the way, when we stay in the Whites for winter hiking we’ve always stayed at local motel/cabins. Not many stay open in the winter, but there are enough.