Tiny Towns Guide: Airbnb reveals Australia’s ‘hidden gem’ holiday destinations
Some of Australia’s best hideaway holiday spots have been revealed in a new guide aimed at boosting local tourism. But it’s the locals who can really rave about living in tiny towns.
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Pulling down the blinds inside the Ocean View Hotel on Kilcunda’s main drag, Paula Doody sums up the little known seaside town best.
“You wake up in the mornings and you hear the waves crashing in front of you and the cows mooing behind you,” she says.
While few are with familiar Kilcunda — located between Wonthaggi and San Remo — it does not take long for visitors to fall in love with the town where rural living meets Instagram-worthy ocean views.
And don’t the locals know it.
“It’s Australia’s best kept secret,” Terry Graham, who moved to town three years ago, says while perched up on a boardwalk near the iconic trestle railway bridge which overlooks the beach.
But Kilcunda may not be off the beaten track for much longer, with the town earning a spot on Airbnb’s Top 50 Tiny Towns campaign designed to put lesser known destinations on the map.
Airbnb Australia and New Zealand country manager Susan Wheeldon said the campaign was about helping tourists find the many “cool and quirky” towns across the country.
“We thought what an amazing position we’re in at Airbnb to help people choose that next off the beaten tracks place by collating this guide,” she said.
“The beauty about Airbnb is we’ve got hosts in towns right across Australia, so it’s really opened up accommodation options for people”.
It comes as research conducted by YouGov revealed that 80 per cent of Australians wanted to visit a regional town they had never visited before.
All 50 towns on the list have populations of less than 3000 people.
Kilcunda host Jye Anderson — who grew up 10km down the road in San Remo — built his home, which he christened “Sol House”, with boosting local tourism in mind.
“The town is definitely starting to get a bit more attention,” he said.
“A lot of people who’ve booked my place said they didn’t know about Kilcunda specifically but once they stay here they fall in love with the place.
“It was always a drive through town on the way to Inverloch and Phillip Island but people are deciding to stop now. It’s the first place as you come in from Melbourne where you see the blue ocean”.
Finn Warnock — an architect by trade — designed his own home in Kilcunda and began hosting visitors at the start of 2024.
He said his place was “fully booked” most weekends and was anticipating a very busy summer ahead.
“Every weekend for the next two and a half months we’re booked out and have at least one stay during the week and I expect it will only ramp up during Christmas and New Year’s which we’re really excited for,” he said.
The town itself has also geared up for an influx of tourists this summer.
Major works are underway on the highway into town, including installing traffic lights and safe crossing from the shops to the beach.
Meanwhile the town’s new publicans Ms Doody and her partner Brett Crellin have big plans to renovate the Ocean View Hotel pub in time for summer, having only taken over six weeks ago.
Keeping for tourists for longer
For Tim Shaw, the biggest motivation for purchasing his property was “retaining” tourists in communities where traditional accommodation options were few and far between.
Mr Shaw rents out three homes on an 32ha block in Myrrhee — a tiny King Valley town in Victoria’s high country.
Mr Shaw said “purpose built” accomodation in smaller towns could play a significant role in bringing in more tourists.
“What having Airbnbs around means is people can go away for the weekend or to wineries for weddings and stay locally and support local businesses, rather getting a bus back to Wangaratta or Benalla,” he said.
The King Valley is often described as the “prosecco capital” of Australia, boasting an abundance of wineries within a 20 minute radius.
But according to Airbnb research, only five per cent of Australians knew of Myrrhee’s existence.
Tourism and Transport Forum Australia chief executive Margy Osmond said more people were looking to make “new discoveries” which included quieter holiday destinations.
“More and more people are looking for unique and interesting travel options that won’t break the bank,” she said.
“It’s wonderful to see so many smaller towns listed that will hopefully benefit from an increase in visitors who will stay for a weekend or longer to enjoy all these communities have to offer.”
From Mr Shaw’s properties visitors can see Mt Buffalo and even a “little bit of Mt Bulla on a clear day”.
“We’re very spoiled here ... the biggest feedback we get is people say the views are much better in person than they are on the website,” he said.
Local arts group King Valley Arts is one of five community organisations in Australia that has received a $30,000 grant from Airbnb as part of the Tiny Towns campaign.
The group organises an annual artshow at King Valley during the Melbourne Cup weekend.
Held out of a local brewery, the festival supports local artists and attracts art-lovers from across the state.
King Valley Arts vice-president Karen Eastwood said the grant would be used to bring more events to the local region.
About 120km south of Byron Bay sits Maclean — one of Australia’s most historic towns.
Now leading the Tiny Towns list, it has one of Australia’s oldest Scottish communities, dating back to the mid-19th century.
The town’s proud Scottish heritage has been celebrated most years since 1893 during the Maclean Highland Gathering, a community event that pulls visitors from across the globe during the Easter weekend to the small New South Wales town.
Many of the families involved in the The Lower Clarence Scottish Association— which organises the annual gathering — can trace their Scottish heritage in the town to the 1860s.
Secretary Alistair Smith said the gathering was a “special” time for the community.
“We get somewhere between 6000 and 8000 people coming to the town every year for the
gathering,” he said.
“Our businesses always comment on how vibrant the town becomes during this time.
“A lot of people when they ring up refer to it as the ‘Scottish festival’ but I remind them that it’s a gathering because that was how it was initiated by those people in 1890. It was perhaps they felt then they were at risk of losing the culture so they got everyone together”.
The 2025 Maclean Highlands Gathering will be its 120th edition.
The event has previously attracted some of the world’s biggest bagpipers, including Pipemajor Roddy MacLeod.
Mr Smith said additional accommodation through locals renting out their homes had allowed more visitors to “soak up” the event.
“Things like Airbnb have been fantastic because it’s always great to be able to stay in the town to see it all,” he said.
Other attractions in Maclean include the Maclean lookout which has panoramic views of the Clarence river and surrounding farmland.
Community groups in Scamander (Tasmania), Monto (Queensland) and York (Western Australia) have also received $30,000 grants from Airbnb.
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