Greece breaks Airbnb record

Among the highest performing Airbnb countries in Europe for this summer is Greece, a season that was lauded as a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with 3.5% more overnight stays for the period June-July-August compared to 2019.

Greece's short-term rental numbers are now pointing to a period of normalcy, with available accommodation supply up 20% year-on-year in August, while compared to 2019 it' was still just -2%, with 133,575 listings (against -10.8% of the European average).

According to data from well-known short-term rental analytics firm AIRDNA, all top 20 markets in terms of demand levels for summer bookings saw an increase compared to 2021, with the biggest growth recorded in Norway (+71.2%), Hungary (+65.8%) and Greece (+61.8%).

Our country even exceeded the levels before the pandemic: Germany with a +24.8%, Greece with +24.1% and France with +21.9% have the highest growth compared to 2019. Of the 20 markets under review, only nine moved up compared to 2019.

According to AIRDNA ​​data, which is based on bookings in the systems maintained by the largest and most well-known platforms Airbnb and Vrbo, across Europe demand significantly exceeded 2019 levels in August - traditionally Europe's "strongest" month.

Revenues this summer increased by 16.7% from 2019.

Visitors appear to have been undeterred by growing economic uncertainty, high gas prices, geopolitical tensions and the record-breaking heatwave that hit many European countries this summer.

Now, the continued growth in demand across Europe, combined with the fact that more accommodation is now on the market in all countries is a positive indicator, says AIRDNA, for the direction of short-term letting at this time.

Overall, travelers currently do not seem hesitant to make new bookings during the fall and winter months.

From the first week of September figures, Europe has 6.6% more bookings compared to the same period in 2019 and a 36.6% year-on-year increase compared to 2021 . Accordingly, Athens is also moving dynamically with 125% more overnight stays already booked for this year compared to the same period last year, said the AIRDNA ​​analysts.

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