Waterfront-focused marketplace rides the rise of drive-to outdoor travel and earns standout visibility in AI-powered trip planning
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, January 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Lake.com, the online travel agency (OTA) dedicated to stays and experiences by the water, today announced it has surpassed 100,000 monthly active users, representing 654% year-over-year growth (based on internal analytics). The milestone underscores a broader shift in how travelers discover, compare, and book getaways, especially for rural, drive-to destinations near lakes, rivers, and coastlines.
Travel planning is increasingly research-heavy and content-led. In Expedia Group’s Path-to-Purchase research, travelers average 141 pages of travel content and 303 minutes of travel content consumption in the 45 days prior to booking, and among travelers who use OTAs, they spend the most time there. Lake.com is built to serve that “inspiration-to-booking” window with water-centric destination content and a marketplace designed to make it faster to find the right shoreline, not just the right bed.
Lake.com’s growth is being propelled by:
Deep destination coverage for outdoor trips: Lake.com has published travel content across 10,000+ by-the-water places worldwide, from lakes and parks to lake towns, riverside communities, and coastal escapes.
Marketplace scale for waterfront stays: the platform now features 40,000 properties tailored to travelers searching for “near-the-water” amenities and experiences.
Visibility in AI-driven discovery: as travel “quick answers” increasingly happen inside AI-powered search experiences, Lake.com has focused on earning citations by publishing practical, traveler-first guides. The brand has also been profiled in a case study on aligning content with AI search behavior.
“Vacation planning happens in three quick micro-moments: I want to know, I want to go, and I want to do,” said David Ciccarelli, Founder & CEO of Lake.com. “What’s changed is where those moments happen. With AI now influencing discovery and decision-making, we’ve built Lake.com to show up with genuinely helpful answers, so families can spend less time hunting through generic listings and more time getting to the water.”
Why this milestone matters now
As travelers increasingly seek calmer, nature-forward trips, and as AI becomes a front door to trip planning, niche platforms with domain expertise are gaining share. Lake.com is positioned at the intersection of:
– Rural, drive-to travel demand and outdoors-led itineraries
– Accelerating AI adoption in inspiration and planning
– Host fatigue with legacy platforms, driving interest in diversifying where they list their properties with clearer policies and more reasonable economics
Key facts at a glance
– 100,000 monthly active users (+654% YoY)
– 40,000 properties
– 10,000 destinations
– 47% visibility in AI-generated vacation rental results (U.S.) compared to legacy platforms
Case studies:
https://platform.tryprofound.com/website/www.lake.com
https://www.growthmarshal.io/ai-search-optimization-case-studies/lake
Stephanie Ciccarelli
Lake.com
+1 226-794-5744
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