Greek tourism is already showing strong momentum this year, capable of approaching the golden year of 2019, based on data from Airbnb reservations. This is especially the case for Crete, with the first data showing signs that it may approach levels before the pandemic.

In 2021, tourism generated revenues of 10.5 billion euros, while in the record year of 2019 revenues exceeded 18 billion euros. According to a survey by the Pricefox platform, Airbnb booking data this year shows an increase in demand in Greece by 232% compared to 2021.

The largest increase for the summer season is recorded in Crete, with 306%, followed by the Dodecanese with 302%. A large increase is also observed in Athens, with an increase of 248%, in the Cyclades, with an increase of 233%, and in the Ionian with 230%.

Short-term rental in Crete

In Crete there are a total of 20,169 short-term rental properties. Of these, 87.1% are whole houses and apartments, 10.5% are private rooms, 2.3% hotel rooms and few shared rooms.

In the last 12 months, 8,000 accommodation units have remained unused on the island. At the same time, 14,000 units were rented for a period of 1 to 60 days. Almost 2,000 units were rented for a period of 2 to 3 months. The majority of travellers stay overnight from 1 to 5 days.

During the last 12 months, the average cost per night in Crete has been around 102 euros, the average occupancy at 52%, with an average income per host at 1,042 euros per month. The data also shows that the majority of Airbnb accommodation in Crete offers 2.2 bedrooms per 5.5 guests.

The number of rooms increased in 2019, with the pandemic causing a big drop which reached 28.5% in the first quarter of 2020.

This article was previously published in Greek at moneyreview.gr.