Retired circus elephants used to walk the backyards of this stretch of Hillsborough County, and now rapper and producer Xaviersobased wants a new wave of travelers to see why that history still matters. Xaviersobased is one of three creators fronting Airbnb's newly launched campaign "have u considered," which pairs him with the small Florida town just south of Tampa as part of a broader push to sell Gen Z travelers on skipping the major cities this fall.

Xaviersobased, born Xavier Lopez in New York City to a Dominican family, built his following as a pioneer of the "jerk" microgenre before signing to Atlantic Records in 2025 and releasing his debut album, "Xavier," in January 2026, according to a Billboard interview that named him its February Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month. Gibsonton carries its own documented history. The town operated for decades as the winter headquarters of the American circus and carnival industry, earning the nickname "Showtown, USA" for the sideshow performers, from giants to bearded ladies, who wintered there and built homes as unusual as their acts, according to Airbnb's own account of the campaign. Condor Ferries

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Xaviersobased Finds a Fit in Gibsonton

The pairing was not random. Airbnb tapped pianist Precious Renee Tucker, comedian and actor Zack Fox, and Xaviersobased to serve as destination insiders for three towns most travelers have never considered visiting: Hot Springs, Arkansas; Bemidji, Minnesota; and Gibsonton, Florida. For his part, Xaviersobased said the fit made sense given the town's reputation. "Gibsonton is for sure based and fits this philosophy because the town is wacky, different and follows its own rules," he said, adding that "the new generation is always down to discover these crazy new places." Condor Ferries

The campaign lands alongside new survey findings shared with FAME that suggest the pitch may resonate strongly with Latino Gen Z travelers specifically. According to the survey, 72.2 percent of respondents said they would be interested in following an itinerary built by a creator or musician they follow, while 83.3 percent said they trust recommendations from creators who share their cultural background. The same survey found that 56.3 percent of this generation has visited or considered visiting a lesser known destination because a creator recommended it. FAME was not able to independently verify the Latino specific breakdown of this data against Airbnb's public newsroom release, which cites a separate but related survey conducted by Focaldata among 1,017 Gen Z adults nationally.

Gibsonton and the Small Town Travel Shift

The broader numbers point in the same direction. Per the survey shared with FAME, 72.6 percent of respondents plan to choose a small town over a major city in the next 12 months, with interest concentrated among travelers in the South Atlantic, West South Central, and Pacific regions. Cost appears to be driving much of that shift. The survey found that 47.5 percent of respondents avoid popular destinations because of inflated prices, while 82.9 percent said they are actively seeking more affordable alternatives, and 58.2 percent named an affordable total price as their top priority when booking. For group trips, respondents said they prioritize properties with enough space for everyone, along with kitchens and shared common areas, over amenities tied to a single destination's reputation.

That framing lines up with what Airbnb has said publicly about its own data. The company has said nearly half of Gen Z's trending fall destinations this year are small towns rather than major cities, based on its internal search data, and that 74 percent of Gen Z travelers surveyed said they are likely to choose a small or lesser known town over a major city for a leisure trip in the next 12 months. Condor Ferries

For Gibsonton, the attention marks an unusual turn for a town better known for its carnival past than its tourism present. Whether the campaign moves the needle on actual bookings will likely depend on how far Xaviersobased's audience is willing to follow him off the map. For now, the pairing gives a town that spent decades hosting circus performers in the off season a new kind of visitor to plan for.

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