Airbnb has released its top-searched destinations for spring and summer across the United States, and one Jersey Shore town has come in as No. 2.

At the southern tip of the Garden State, Cape May can be a far drive for those in northern New Jersey or New York, but it is not stopping visitors.

“There are 30 million people within a 300-mile radius of this area, so we knew that we were going to find people who just wanted to get away,” says Cape May County Director of Tourism Diane Wieland.

Cape May also has a strong year-round presence, with many businesses staying open through the winter. County officials say that September and October of 2020 did better business-wise than 2019.

“I love it because we’re right in town here and I don’t mind all the hustle and bustle,” says Cape May resident Sharon Wendel. “I think it’s fantastic. That’s why we bought the house where we did.”

With more people able to work from home and more children learning virtually, the Cape May County Tourism Board says that they are not just seeing visitors staying a few nights, but rather longer than that.

“Not only a week or two, we’re seeing months,” says Wieland “Forty-seven percent of our dwellings are considered a second home, so those second homeowners who didn’t come for the winter or during a lot of the time during the pandemic, we’re renting them through online bookings or through realtors and we saw that increase.”

And while some retail businesses fared well through the pandemic, Wieland says that restaurants are hoping for a better summer season.

“We’re finding more and more that have really expanded and done an incredible job creating open, outdoor space at the restaurants, so we’re really counting on visitors to help support the restaurants,” she says.

Besides Cape May, there have also been increases in rentals in towns like Sea Isle City, Avalon, Stone Harbor and the Wildwoods.