Short-Term Rental Beds in Greece Double from 2019 to 2023, Study Shows

Hellenic Chamber of Hotels Director Agni Christidou, Hellenic Chamber of Hotels President Alexandros Vassilikos and Grant Thornton Greece Head of Strategy and Investments Dr. Panagiotis Prontzas.

Short-term rental beds, particularly those offered through platforms like Airbnb, increased by 100 percent between 2019 and 2023, with overnight stays in these accommodations growing at an average annual rate of approximately 28 percent during the same period, according to a study conducted by consulting firm Grant Thornton.

In contrast, the number of hotel beds increased by just 3.5 percent over the same five-year period.

The findings were presented on Tuesday at a press conference held by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, which focused on the main trends and socio-economic impacts of the sharing economy.

During the presentation, the chamber’s president, Alexandros Vassilikos, emphasized the need for fair regulation of the short-term rental market, stating, “This is a condition for sustainable development and social cohesion.”

Key findings of the study:

– Short-term rental prices are on average 200 percent to 900 percent higher than long-term rentals.
– The growing presence of short-term rentals has reduced the availability of long-term rental properties, leading to the displacement of tenants and increased housing costs.
– Short-term rentals contribute to noise and safety issues, place additional strain on local infrastructure, and disrupt community cohesion by altering neighborhood dynamics.
– Waste generation per guest in short-term rentals is 20 percent higher compared to long-term renters, with recycling utilization 40 percent lower than in hotels.
– A significant portion of short-term rental properties (66.8 percent) consists of older buildings with low energy efficiency, while more than 70 percent of the country’s hotels are classified as high-energy efficiency properties.

The hotel chamber’s president highlighted the importance of regulating the short-term rental market to balance its growth with broader societal and environmental needs.

“Modern entrepreneurship must have a positive social impact, as demonstrated by the hotel industry’s long-standing contributions,” said Vassilikos, warning that without regulation, concerns about “overtourism” could escalate into anti-tourism sentiment.

“We are not opposing short-term rentals but advocating for fair regulation so that tourism can continue to support sustainable development and social cohesion,” he concluded.