Short-term rental revenues have plunged by over 60% in Athens alone since the coronavirus pandemic decimated this year's tourism season.
Online rental platforms like Airbnb and HomeAway dropped to below €400 in May from €1,016 last September, the market’s peak, according to industry researcher AirDNA that was quoted by Kathimerini. The same data also point to a drop in occupancy from 82% in September 2019 to just 35% in May 2020.
Although renting private accommodation can offer more value for money, many huge markets still cannot enter Greece thus far, most significantly, the USA.
In Greece’s case this is primarily due to the fact it mainly depends on visitors from abroad and less on Greeks, as foreigners account for about 80% of guests at such accommodation, Kathimerini noted. Given that American and British visitors will not be arriving anytime soon, the market will take time to recover, even if Greeks do appear more active this year.
Athens is the top 10 most booked European cities for 2020, according to joint research by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and ForwardKeys, as cited by Greek City Times.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Athens came in 4th place behind Amsterdam, Paris and Lisbon.
From yesterday, tourism in Greece “opened” as international arrivals will be allowed to enter from all airports in the country and not just Athens and Thessaloniki.
According to ForwardKeys research, new tickets issued for future international travel to the European Union (EU) dropped by 84.4% in the first half of June compared to the same period in 2019, recovering from a 94.5% overall decline in May.
New flight bookings for all international future departures from the EU slumped by 80.2% in the first half of June 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, recovering from a hefty 92.3% decline in May.
“The implementation of global protocols as well as testing and contact tracing for intercontinental arrivals, as unveiled by WTTC’s Safe and Seamless Traveller Journey initiative, will restore consumer confidence and encourage travelling to resume,” Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO said.
