Airbnb: Short term rental booking explosion

The “short-term lease” sector in Greece is recording an “explosion” in accommodation bookings, according to the Short Term Accommodation Managers Association – Greece (STAMA).

In fact, the president of STAMA Nasos Gavalas noted, speaking to AMNA, an ever-increasing growth in bookings for 2021 and stated that he will not be surprised if in the second half of the year, it reaches – or even exceeds in some areas – the corresponding numbers of 2019.

From the position of CEO of MINT – (Mint-bnb property management) noted that the surge in reservations, which at the moment can reach -in the case of Mint- even up to 80 new bookings per day, of which 70% concern June, 25% July, and only about 5% August. In any case, it is confirmed that this year the vast majority of reservations will be “last minute bookings”.

At the same time, the first messages  from the bnb industry about tourism in Crete are optimistic. With 10,000 arrivals in the first 5 days since the opening of tourism, Crete seems to be dynamically rebounding after the difficult summer of 2020 and is gaining its traditional visitors, according to the association.

As Mr. Gavalas emphasizes, “the expected increase in tourism, perhaps to 2019 levels for the bnb industry, and accommodation in apartments and villas will also help increase owner income”, adding that “from the first information from the tourism industry, there is relative optimism that the traditional visitors of Crete will visit the island again this year, despite the problems created by the pandemic “.

The positive elements from the opening of the tourist season, as reported by AMNA, and the prospects for a large increase in tourist traffic in Crete in the summer have mobilized companies in the sector to be active in the markets, mainly, of Heraklion and Chania, but also of Rethymnon, as Mr. Gavalas emphasized. As for Mint “already, it has an increase of over 80% in new partners who own real estate in Crete”, he said.