Grant Thornton study shows loss of jobs and tax revenue brought by short-term leasing in Greece

Short-term tourist leases mean losses of 39,000 jobs, lost tax revenues of 316 million euros a year and a significant burden on infrastructure along with problems of social cohesion, according to a study by Grant Thornton presented on Monday at a related event of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.

This particular market now constitutes 15% (3.4 billion euros) of the country’s total tourism receipts, which Grant Thorton estimates at around 24.5 billion euros. Impressively, the number of properties available jumped from 57,000 in 2016 to 129,000 in 2022.

Opening the presentation of the study, the president of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, Mr. Alexandros Vassilikos, emphasized that the Chamber does not see the short-term rental phenomenon as competitive, but is mainly interested in the social effects, such as the change in the appearance of the area, the threat to social organization, as doctors, teachers, etc. cannot find housing due to the excessive increase in rents. The goal of the conference is to propose fair solutions, concluded Mr. Vassilikos.

Kikilias: Short-term rentals are part of our tourist product

The Minister of Tourism, Vassilis Kikilias, made it clear that the government considers short-term rentals part of the Greek tourism product. The government, he added, is working on an operating framework with the aim of separating non-professional and professional short-term rentals.

Katerina Notopoulou, tourism department head of SYRIZA, was also in favor of creating an institutional framework.

The Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, requested that the institutional framework and responsibility for short-term leases be transferred to the local government.