Canadian demand for U.S. short-term rentals continues to decline sharply. While some fly-to and event-driven markets are still attracting Canadian travelers, the broader trend suggests travelers are becoming more selective about when and why they visit the U.S.

Canadian Travelers Are Pulling Back From U.S. STRs

What's the Best Minimum Night Stay Policy on Airbnb?

Canadian demand for U.S. short-term rentals remains sharply down, with Q1 2026 demand nights falling 27% year over year and 32% compared to Q1 2024.

Border and drive-to destinations saw the steepest declines, particularly across the Northeast and Pacific Northwest, while traditional fly-to destinations like Florida and Hawaii held up better.

Markets still attracting Canadian travelers tend to offer a clear reason to visit, whether that’s warm weather, events, outdoor travel, or strong value compared to more casual cross-border trips.

Canadian travel demand for U.S. short-term rentals has shifted dramatically over the past year. What began as a sharp decline in 2025 has now extended well into 2026, with many markets continuing to see substantial drops in Canadian demand nights.

But the pullback hasn’t been evenly distributed. Some of the biggest declines are showing up in border and drive-to destinations, while a smaller group of fly-to leisure and event-driven markets are still managing to attract Canadian travelers.

Using AirDNA data, this report looks at where Canadian demand is falling the fastest, which U.S. markets are holding up best, and what the changing travel patterns could mean for operators heading into the summer season.

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Canadian Demand for U.S. STRs Continues to Slide

Canadian demand for U.S. short-term rentals fell sharply throughout 2025, and the slowdown has continued into 2026. Every month since the start of 2025 has posted a year-over-year decline in Canadian demand nights.

The steepest drop came in August 2025, when Canadian demand fell 44% YoY. Since then, the pace of decline has moderated somewhat, but the broader trend remains firmly negative. In Q1 2026, Canadian demand nights were down approximately 27% compared to Q1 2025 and 32% compared to Q1 2024.

Summer travel continues to account for the largest absolute losses, with July and August each losing roughly 230,000 demand nights year over year. At the same time, traditional winter snowbird travel has also weakened, suggesting the pullback extends beyond just seasonal leisure trips.

Border States Are Seeing the Sharpest Pullback

The states seeing the steepest declines in Canadian demand over the last 12 months aren’t traditional fly-to vacation destinations like Florida or Hawaii. Instead, the largest drops are concentrated in states closest to the Canadian border. Maine (−60.5%), New Hampshire (−56.3%), Oregon (−52.2%), and Washington (−48.6%) led the declines, suggesting Canadians are pulling back first on shorter, more casual cross-border trips.

That pattern matters because these markets often rely on repeat regional travel, long weekends, and drive-to demand rather than once-a-year destination vacations. When travelers become more selective about discretionary spending, nearby convenience trips are often the easiest to cut back.

Meanwhile, traditional Sun Belt destinations are holding up comparatively better. Florida (−26.7%) and Hawaii (−17.4%) still saw meaningful declines, but not at the scale seen in the Northeast or Pacific Northwest. Puerto Rico stands out as the lone bright spot, posting a 3.8% increase and appearing as the only green market on an otherwise overwhelmingly red map.

The data suggests that Canadians who are still traveling to the U.S. are increasingly prioritizing warmer-weather and destination-focused trips over shorter, lower-commitment cross-border travel.

A Market-by-Market Look at Canadian Demand

Note: The rank only includes markets that have over 1K demand nights from Canadians in 12 months.

Markets across the Pacific Northwest, particularly Washington state and British Columbia’s cross-border neighbors, saw some of the steepest declines in Canadian demand. Many posted drops between 50% and 70%, highlighting how sharply shorter cross-border travel has pulled back.

Major Sun Belt destinations also recorded meaningful contractions despite historically attracting large volumes of Canadian snowbirds. Markets such as Las Vegas, Phoenix-Scottsdale, Orlando, Sarasota, and Cape Coral all saw notable declines over the trailing 12-month period.

A smaller group of markets managed to buck the trend. Several Midwest and Southern destinations posted modest gains, though most increases remained relatively limited.

The map also highlights where the impact matters most in absolute terms. The largest bubbles, concentrated across Florida, Southern California, and parts of the Northeast, represent markets with the highest total volume of Canadian demand nights. Even moderate percentage declines in those destinations translate into substantial losses in actual booking volume.

The pullback is also remarkably broad-based. Of the 317 U.S. markets tracked, the median decline in Canadian demand sits at −28.9%. A total of 291 markets saw inbound Canadian demand fall, while only 26 posted gains, most of them relatively modest in the 5% to 15% range.

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Top 10 Markets that Declined Most and Gained Most from Canadians

Note: The rank removed 2 groups of markets: 1) markets with less than 1K demand nights from Canadians in 12 months; 2) miscellaneous markets named with “XX Area”, representing a group of small markets in one state

The steepest declines in Canadian demand are heavily concentrated in border and drive-to leisure markets, particularly across the Northeast. Grays Harbor, Washington (−70.1%), Portland, Maine (−68.9%), Maine Beaches (−66.5%), Outer Banks, North Carolina (−66.0%), and Cape Cod, Massachusetts (−60.6%) all saw major pullbacks in Canadian demand nights over the trailing 12 months.

What these markets have in common is accessibility. Many are traditional road-trip or regional vacation destinations that historically benefited from convenient cross-border travel rather than destination-driven demand.

The markets posting gains tell a very different story. The strongest performers tend to be fly-to or purpose-driven destinations rather than casual cross-border trips. San Juan, Puerto Rico (+27%) and Vieques/Culebra, Puerto Rico (+12.9%) benefited from warm weather and direct-flight accessibility, while markets such as Fort Wayne, Indiana (+39.7%) and Broken Bow Lake, Oklahoma (+25.7%) point toward event-driven and outdoor-focused travel demand.

Other gainers, including Birmingham, Alabama; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; Augusta, Georgia; and Tulsa, Oklahoma, share another common thread: relatively affordable destinations with strong sports, golf, outdoor, or cultural appeal.

The broader pattern suggests Canadians who are still traveling to the U.S. are increasingly doing so with a specific purpose, whether that’s a major event, warm-weather travel, or a strong value proposition. Convenience alone appears to matter less than it once did.

Even so, the broader U.S. STR market remains overwhelmingly driven by domestic travel demand. Domestic travelers accounted for 92% of all U.S. demand nights in the twelve months through March 2026, up from 91% during the same period a year earlier

Canadian demand for U.S. STRs continues to fall in 2026, with border markets seeing the steepest declines while fly-to and event-driven destinations hold up better.

What's the Best Airbnb Minimum Stay Policy?

Key Takeaways:
Successful hosts boost their monthly revenues by adjusting their Airbnb minimum stay policies according to market trends, seasonality, and upcoming events.
While some hosts prefer short one-night stays for convenience, others find that longer minimum stays increase occupancy, reduce turnover costs, and help prevent unauthorized parties.
Market data analysis shows that properties with tailored minimum stay policies, especially during big events or peak seasons, tend to earn higher revenues, underscoring the value of a flexible and informed approach to setting stay requirements.

Your Airbnb minimum stay policy can have far-reaching effects—both in terms of guest satisfaction and revenue. When it comes to setting your Airbnb minimum stay policy, there’s a handful of competing theories on what’s best practice.

Some hosts are partial to the three-day policy. Others favor week-long (or even month-long) stays. And still more tout the benefits of a one-night minimum. Depending on your market and hosting style, it may make sense to simply “set it and forget it.” Find something that works and run with it.

However, based on the data, we’ve found that a little tinkering goes a long way. Hosts that are proactive about toggling their minimum night stay policy—in accordance with market demand, seasonality, and upcoming events—can see impressive increases in monthly revenues.

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What Is a Minimum Night Stay Policy?

Also known as a minimum length-of-stay requirement, the minimum night stay policy is the minimum number of nights that a guest can book a short-term vacation rental. It’s determined entirely by the host, and it can be adjusted to correlate with yearly, monthly, and weekly trends. 

Why Does Your Airbnb Minimum Stay Policy Matter?

Your Airbnb minimum stay policy matters for two key reasons:

1. Maximize Rental Income

Asking guests to book for two or more nights encourages guests to stay longer, boosting your occupancy and revenue. It can also save you time on check-ins, check-outs, and cleaning.

However, if your Airbnb property is right near an airport or convention center, accepting one-night guests offers greater convenience for business travelers and could help you capture additional profit. This is especially true if other vacation rentals in the area have a two-night minimum stay.

2. Prevent Unauthorized Parties

One-night bookings are attractive to guests who want to throw a party. Airbnb placed a temporary ban on parties in August 2020 and made this ban part of its official policy on June 28, 2022. However, some guests will still try to hold parties despite this rule.

If parties are a problem in your location, a minimum stay of more than one night can help to prevent this from happening. You can also ban same-day bookings or require that same-day guests book before 5 p.m.

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The Current State of Airbnb Minimum Night Stays

Minimum stay policies vary greatly depending on location. Factors such as the seasonality of a market, turnover cost (the cost to clean and get an Airbnb ready for the next guest), and regulation can play a big role in the minimum stay policies that hosts set.

Longer Minimum Stays During Peak Season

In more seasonal markets where hosts earn a large percentage of their annual revenue during peak seasons, minimum stay policies tend to be longer. Two and three night minimum stay policies are very common in coastal and mountain destinations. Having a minimum stay policy greater than one night can prevent the occurrence of orphan days (unoccupied days between bookings) during weekends or weekdays and optimize occupancy during the busy season.

In coastal destinations, it’s more common to see minimum stay policies that exceed 3 days and can be a week or longer. 10% of coastal properties have a minimum stay policy of 4-7 nights while another 10% of properties have a minimum stay policy of 7-27 days. During peak summer months when demand for longer stays is higher, one week minimums help maximize occupancy and lower turnover costs.

Flexible Minimum Stays in Cities

Compared to destination markets, cities experience less fluctuation in demand throughout the year and hosts can be more flexible with minimum stay policies. The percentage of properties with one night minimum stays are most common in small (34%), mid-sized (30%), and urban cities (30%) where guests tend to be tourists or business travelers that book shorter stays.

Notably, 44% of small city/rural properties and 36% of properties in mid-sized cities do have 2 night minimum stay policies. The prevalence of 2 night minimums may be due to the higher cost of turnover in smaller cities, where labor may be less available and properties can be harder to get to.

More Regulation, Longer Stays

Finally, regulation is the last factor that can play a large role in minimum stay policies. In cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, and most recently New York City, new short term rental regulations in recent years have greatly limited the ability for hosts to rent their properties to short term guests. In the aforementioned cities that have seen the implementation of strict STR regulation, hosts have converted their short term rental properties into mid term and long term rentals, explaining why 24% of properties in urban cities (excluding NYC) have minimum stay policies of 28 days or more.

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Which Minimum Night Stay Policy Earns the Most Money?

Hosts in your market may prefer one strategy over another, but their choice isn’t necessarily the best for maximizing your rental’s occupancy and revenue. In fact, based on the data, we’ve found that there can be a disconnect between hosts’ choices and what actually maximizes revenue. 

Case Study: St. Louis, MO

In St. Louis, MO, 44% of entire properties have a one night minimum stay policy. While hosts with one night minimum stay policies are adopting the most common policy in the market, they are leaving money on the table. RevPARs for properties with 2 night minimums are 17% higher than properties with one night minimums and RevPARs for properties with 3 to 6 night minimums are 25% higher.

Case Study: Flagstaff, Arizona

In Flagstaff, AZ, entire properties with 3 night stay minimums have the highest RevPARs, yet they only make up 12% of available listings. Compared to their peers, 3 night minimum stay properties made 35% more per available night than properties with 2 night stay policies and 49% more than properties with one night stay policies.

These market case studies highlight examples where the more common minimum stay strategies are not the most profitable. However, there are also many markets where the dominant minimum stay strategy may be the best policy for maximizing revenue. 

Each market has a different story. Choosing the right minimum stay strategy will require digging into market data and teasing out demand and booking trends within your market. 

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Change Your Minimum Stay for Events

There are certain times during which hosts should consider toggling minimum stays. Big-ticket events are absolutely one of those times. If there’s a music festival, conference, or sports match coming up, it may be worth altering your minimum stay to align better with visitors’ expected trip length.

We considered AirDNA data from one of the largest festivals in the United States: Austin’s SXSW (South By Southwest). Austin’s SXSW is one of the world's premier events showcasing music, film and interactive media. It takes place annually in the spring and draws thousands of national and international visitors. 

While your Airbnb pricing strategy should definitely be optimized for these high-demand dates, what should hosts do about minimum night stays?

Here are the revenues earned in 2023 according to hosts’ minimum night stay policies.

The data speaks for itself: three-night minimums earned hosts the most. Average RevPAR for listings with 3 night minimum stay policies was $584 during SXSW last year (Mar 10-19, 2023). Listings with 4-6 night minimum stay policies also saw RevPARs exceeding $500 a night. Meanwhile, listings with 1 and 2 night minimum stay policies earned the least. 

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How Should I Set My Minimum Stay on Airbnb?
Use AirDNA to conduct some thorough research about your destinations. Is it primarily a quick-stop transit city? Are guests more likely to come for an entire weekend, week, or month?

Toggle to the Future Rates feature to see how much demand is expected for any given day. The higher the demand, the better chance you have to secure a long-term booking.

Discover the Booking Lead Time feature in the Seasonality tab. The longer in advance guests tend to make reservations, the longer you can set your length of stay requirements.

Set your minimum nights policy and create custom rules for specific dates. Navigate to Airbnb’s listing management platform to set your minimum stay. If you receive two bookings that leave an orphan day in between, use the same tool to create an exception for that specific date. Filling gaps between bookings is one of the most surefire ways to elevate rental revenues.
Consider the cleaning fee: As cleaning fees are only charged once per booking, it should not be overlooked. A 5-night booking with an aggressive $100 cleaning fee pales in comparison to five one-night bookings that each have a $35 cleaning fee.
Calculate the cost of your time and effort. If you were to assign a monetary value to operating an agile length-of-stay strategy, how much would it be? How much time do you spend cleaning, preparing, and getting guests checked in.
Optimize Your Minimum Stay to Maximize Your Revenue

Ready to take the next step in your revenue management strategy? Don’t let minimum night stays go overlooked. A well-optimized minimum stay policy can attract guests and boost your occupancy and revenue.

 To maximize your Airbnb’s profitability, it’s essential to know what other hosts are doing, and most importantly, what generates the most revenue. Use industry-leading data to harness information, take action, and stay ahead of the competition.

Are you wondering whether one, two, or three-night average minimums are best for your vacation rental? Here's how to choose the best minimum night stay policy on Airbnb.

Airbnb officially codifies party ban

Set the minimum and maximum nights for your listing - Airbnb Help Center

 Airbnb Cleaning Fees: What Hosts Need To Know | AirDNA 

 Optimize Airbnb Pricing Strategy with Dynamic Pricing | AirDNA 

 Airbnb Booking Lead Time | Vacation Rental Metrics | AirDNA 

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Canadian Travelers Are Pulling Back From U.S. STRs

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