ATHENS — As it did to protect taxis by imposing constraints on Uber, Greece is now trying to give hotels an edge over short-term rental platforms like Airbnb that prove competitive but change the character of neighborhoods.
Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said tourist accommodation rental platforms would be asked to adjust their advertising policies to regulate short-term rentals.
Many Greek landlords have moved from renting apartments by the month with long-term leases to turning them into short-term stays for tourists, finding they can make more money.
But it has driven many Greeks out of the market in their own cities and seen rents rise out of reach for many, with even areas such as the anarchist stronghold of Exarchia in Athens also being targeted by investors.
Speaking at the National Strategy for Tourism 2030 event organized by the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), Kikilias said the ministry will contact Booking.com and Expedia, GTP Headlines said.
“In short, there will be no hotels listed without stars. When hotels are advertised, for example, short-term rentals cannot be advertised. This will be clarified,” Kikilias said, without indicating how he might order this.
Groups representing tourism and relevant sectors in Europe were pleased that the European Commission said it would regulate short-term rentals, with hotels complaining about competition and wanting an advantage.
SETE Chairman Yiannis Retsos said while Airbnb-style rentals are an integral part of the country’s tourism product, they create unfair market conditions, especially for tax-paying hotels, according to the report.
“We consider the involvement of municipalities to be very important. It is necessary to assign competence to the respective mayors so that they can set limits on such activity,” he said, without indicating how this could happen.
SETE had previously proposed a value-added tax (VAT), ownership cap and rental term limits as part of a set of rules to regulate Airbnb-style activities without saying why it wouldn’t. unfair to owners.
Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis said city authorities should be responsible for setting limits on short-term rental activity based on each area’s needs and carrying capacity.
According to data from AirDNA, demand for Airbnbs in Greece continues its upward trend, marking a 13.5% increase in overnight stays in September 2022 compared to the same month in 2019.
Greece was also among only eight countries in Europe to see an increase in the number of Airbnb-style listings, ranking eighth and with a whopping 61.8% increase in summer 2022 compared to last year. ‘last year.
The COVID-19 pandemic had seen many landlords try desperately to revert to longer-term rentals as international air traffic nearly came to a standstill, and there was virtually no demand for short-term rentals for long periods of time. periods – but the decline of the pandemic has caused them to shift gears.
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