Jump in short-term rentals
Demand for short-term rentals in the Greek market this summer posted a considerable annual increase of 61.8%, which ranks it in the highest position among the countries of Southern Europe and demonstrates the recovery that the sector and tourism overall have experienced this year.
According to the latest pan-European survey by specialist short-term rental analysis company AirDNA, bookings in Greece over the June-August quarter showed a yearly rise that only trailed that of Norway (71.2%) and Hungary (65.8%).
More importantly, the Greek market comfortably surpassed its performance in 2019: Bookings increased by 24.1% compared to the record summer of 2019, trailing only Germany, where the increase was of the order of 24.8%. The development vindicates AirDNA executives’ forecast earlier this year that 2022 revenue from short-term rental accommodation would surpass that of 2019, which was around 1.4 billion euros.
On a pan-European level, demand in August this year increased by 36% year-on-year, while compared to 2019 there was an increase of just 0.2%. As a result, total revenue increased by 30.1% compared to last year but also by 16.7% compared to 2019, due to prices being higher this year, while average occupancy reached 76.5%. In the Greek market, the average price increased by 2% in August this year, but compared to August 2019, the increase was around 14%.
An interesting aspect concerns the significant improvement in demand for the center of Athens: Based on the picture of bookings until the beginning of September, it emerged that during the period of the last four months of 2022 (September-December) there will be an increase of 125% compared to the corresponding period last year. This is a performance that follows the pan-European trend of a gradual return of foreign visitors to major urban centers as well, beyond the popular summer tourism destinations.
AirDNA previously reported that the largest increase in demand in Greece in July and August compared to 2019 was recorded by Kos with 101%, while Tinos posted an increase of 60%.
