Airbnb: Short-term rentals in Greece jumped by 60% in February

The growth of Greek tourism for this year is predicted to be particularly dynamic, something that is reflected in the short-term rental data, with demand in Greece moving to the highest levels in Europe, showing an increase of around 60% in February 2023, compared to corresponding, last month.

According to the data of the company AirDNA, Norway and Portugal followed with an increase of 52.7% and 44.1% respectively.

At the same time, the available supply of accommodation in Greece increased last month by 7%, with property owners apparently taking advantage of the prolonged high tourist season. Available listings in Greece are also up 2% compared to 2019.

The average price per night was up 13.7% year-on-year and prices up 26% after a weak February last year.

The prospect

Notably, AirDNA is forecasting a strong spring and an even stronger summer season for the short-term rental industry, with demand growth of 32.8% year-over-year and 24.5% compared to 2019. Travelers are more than willing to secure their summer accommodation as bookings for June, July and August are up over 30% on 2019.

Greece in particular is seeing the fifth highest growth for the next six months, with over 50% increase in overnight stays for the summer compared to the same period last year.

It is noted that last year Greece was in fourth place among the total of twenty European countries. Hungary had the strongest recovery, with 62.1% more overnight stays than in 2021, followed by Portugal (60.2%) and Norway (59.4%). Greece had an increase rate of close to 57%.

What is happening at European level

Demand for short-term accommodation during the second month of the year saw an increase of 47.3% compared to the same period in 2019 and 26.6% from last year.

Available listings increased this February by 2.8% compared to the same month in 2019, and by 13.7% compared to February 2022, marking the second consecutive month of growth. Despite such a significant gap between demand and listing growth, the number of nights available has steadily increased in line with demand as hosts open their calendars for longer periods.

In February, the supply of available nights was 37.8% higher than in February 2019 (20.7% compared to 2022).

However, growth in available nights was slow compared to growth in demand during this off-peak month, which led to a 6.9% increase in occupancy levels compared to 2019 (4.9% vs. 2022).

All countries in Europe, except Denmark, are expected to show double-digit growth in bookings between March and August, with Greece showing an impressive performance, as bookings are up more than 50%, compared to the same period last year .

Poland appears to be the growth leader, with total nightly bookings over the next six months increasing by 65.6%.