STR Smoky Mountains low occupancy on Airbnb?

[Keegan Schaub]

Hi everyone, I am looking to purchase my first STR and did some research in the Smokey Mountains area on Airbnb. When I was looking at occupancy rates on Airbnb for a few random listings most of them only had 5-7 nights occupied?Is it the non busy season in that area? I've heard of really high occupancy rates, but when researching for a ‘worst case scenario' when I do purchase a STR, a lot of listings don't have any bookings for the month of February?

[Jonathan Ball]

I have a STR in Gatlinburg with 95% occupancy throughout the year, but I've only had 3 bookings in January. It's the slow season right now, and occupancy is down in the entire area due to Omicron.