Study: Attica, South Aegean, Crete Account for Majority of Greece’s Airbnb Listings

Athens, Greece

The regions of Attica, South Aegean and Crete account for 60 percent of all Airbnb listings in Greece, according to a study released last week by the Center of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE).

The study reveals that in the first half of 2018, there were over 5,000 listings for each one of the aforementioned regions ranging from 6,474 in the Peloponnese to 30,184 in Attica – accounting for 87.9 percent of the total.

Next in line are the regions of Central Macedonia, the Ionian Islands and the Peloponnese, which account for 26.3 percent of all listings in 2018 compared to 13.9 percent in 2011.

Research into the home sharing phenomenon in Greece reveals that currently there are more than 126,000 homes or properties being leased out as accommodation through Airbnb’s platform.

The KEPE report, which assesses data from AirDNA analytics, notes that home sharing practices for tourism accommodation began reluctantly in 2010 only to emerge as one of the largest challenges of the hospitality sector in 2018.

Greece’s remaining seven regions are on the lower end of home sharing activity accounting for 12.1 percent of the total in the first six months of 2018 with 196 listings in Western Macedonia and 3,880 in Thessaly.

Faliro Bay, Athens. Photo Source: Greek Marinas Association

On the highest end, the Region of Attica, and particularly central Athens, which accounts for 53.3 percent of the total listings and 93 percent of which are concentrated in the City of Athens; followed by Eastern Attica at 19.3 percent: 20.3 percent in  Saronikos, 19.8 percent in Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, and 9.8 percent in the Markopoulo-Mesogaia.

Southern Attica meanwhile, accounts for 11.0 percent of the total and more specifically Glyfada at 25.2 percent, Paleo Faliro at 18.2 percent and Kallithea at 16.0 percent.

According to the report, Greeks post their short term rental listings in a number of platforms besides Airbnb, including TripAdvisor, Booking.com, HomeAway, HouseTrip, Flipkey, 9Flats, Roomorama, trivago and StayInAthens. Side companies meanwhile such as EazyBnb, GuestEasy, and Airbnb management offer support services.