Beds in short-term rental accommodation in Attica rose sharply by 751% during the decade 2014 – 2023, while hotel beds in the region recorded an increase of only 16%. While the increase in beds in Airbnb type accommodation in the Greek capital was greater and “explosive” in Syros, the seat of the South Aegean Region, as shown by AirDNA data, processed by the Institute of Tourism Research and Forecasting (ITEP).
Specifically, in 2014, there were 16,083 beds in 4,049 Airbnb-type accommodations in Attica, while at the end of 2023, this number “jumped” to 136,813 in 34,037 accommodations. Respectively, in 2014 hotel beds amounted to 58,197 in 644 hotel units in Attica, to reach in 2023 only 67,398 out of a total of 698 hotels.
This means that Airbnb capacity grew at an average annual rate of 24%, versus 1% of hotel capacity.
In Athens, in 2014, there were 7,809 beds operating in 2,209 Airbnb accommodations, the number of which increased dramatically to 67,953 beds in 18,454 accommodations at the end of the decade. Regarding hotel beds, they amounted to 26,919 in 223 hotels in 2014, and in 2023 they reached 34,844 in 293 hotels.
Airbnb beds increased by 770%, compared to 29% for hotel beds. This means that Airbnb capacity grew at an average annual rate of 24%, compared to 3% of hotel capacity.
In the South Aegean region, in 2014, there were 7,444 beds in 1,342 Airbnb-type accommodations, while at the end of 2023, this number recorded a significant increase and stood at 133,163 beds in 29,077 accommodations. Meanwhile, the number of hotel beds at the beginning of the decade under review was 194,332 in 2,078 hotel units, which in 2023 amounted to 236,011 beds in 2,267 hotels.
The number of beds in short-term rental accommodation in Syros recorded an “explosive” increase in the decade 2014 – 2023, which rose from 614 to 135 accommodations in 2014 to 5,546 beds in 1,296 accommodations in 2023. Similarly, in 2014, hotel beds amounted to 2,310 in 45 hotel units to grow to just 2,583 in 54 hotels in 2023.
Airbnb beds increased by 803%, compared to 12% for hotel beds. This means that Airbnb capacity grew at an average annual rate of 24%, versus 1% of hotel capacity.
“ITEP’s comparative data on the increase in beds between hotels and short-term rentals in Attica and popular destinations in the South Aegean are revealing of the reality that has been formed and is disguised behind a simplistic discussion about overtourism. One problem exists and that is the uncontrolled expansion of the activity of short-term leases, with almost ten times the growth rate every year, compared to hotels, in the decade 2014 – 2023”, said the president of the Panhellenic Hoteliers Federation, Mr. Yiannis Chatzis, speaking to iefimerida.
“This is where the burden on infrastructure and dysfunctions in the management of the daily lives of permanent residents and visitors are located. As well as the intensification of the housing crisis with the rapid increase in rents. The evidence leaves no room for speculation and evasion. Activity requires regulation because at the end of the day a free market does not mean an unaccountable market,” he added.
According to him, the debate that has been opened on the increase of the transient fee must take into account the real causes of the problems in cities and destinations and under no circumstances will a levelling horizontal increase on the just and the unjust be tolerated.
“The hotel industry is determined to safeguard its competitiveness and will be against any attempt, wherever it comes from, to be the easy revenue solution again. To pay the one who really burdens and that is not the hotelier,” he concluded.
