Airbnb challenges hoteliers

Hoteliers have launched an open war against Airbnb owners with the “Talk About Our Lives” initiative.

In a nutshell: Hoteliers say the rise in short-term rentals has led to to a decrease in the availability of real estate and rising housing costs, which, in turn, led to serious social problems.

During the press conference, ΞEE presented a study by Grant Thornton on the main trends and impact of short-term rentals. Here are some of the findings:

• Over a five-year period (2019-2023), short-term rental vacancies increased by 100%, while hotel vacancies increased by only 3.5%.
• The average price for short-term rentals is 200-900% higher than for long-term rentals.
• Reduction in the supply of long-term rentals and displacement of long-term tenants.

Media We spoke to short-term rental market participants about their attitude towards this ΞEE initiative.

Inaccuracies…

Georgios Kanellopoulos, member of the Short Term Rental Companies Association, said: “We listen to hoteliers and it's like listening to retirees telling us they can't live for a month. It's ridiculous… It's obviously a move to put even more pressure on the government over TIF, as the government is looking to only give tax breaks to long-term rentals.

“They say that rental prices have gone up because of short-term rentals. They don't tell us why prices have gone up and where Airbnb isn't. Also, the Grand Thorton study that was presented says that the average price of short-term rentals is 200-900% higher than long-term rentals. This is inaccuracysince the price of a very good property can be a maximum of 30-40% higher, and this does not even take into account the problems that may arise with long-term rentals (for example, the lack of rental guarantees).

The solution to the housing problem is not to close Airbnb, but to increase the supply of real estate. We are talking about 700,000 properties that are closed all over Greece, and 150,000 of them are in Attica. Consider that there are 12,000 Airbnb in all of Attica. In addition, the direct income from short-term rentals for the state alone is 1.5 billion euros.

If we look further, think about how the short-term rental market benefits the local economy, the local community. And even the grumbling of hoteliers comes at a time when hotels are popping up like mushrooms. Moreover, the short-term rental sector is one of those that has the highest tax compliance (95%), since bookings are made through platforms.”

Surprise…

Theoharis Michaelides, president of STAMA (Short-Term Rental Companies Association), also reacted sharply: “We are surprised to hear of yet another Grant Thornton 'study' in an industry it does not know and for which it had no expert input. Unlike Grant Thornton (and its sponsors), STAMA will be closely examining the contents of this study and responding to it with a press release.”

Target

President of the Sharing Economy Association Dima Teodora told OT: “Short-term rentals are wrongly aimed at solving the housing problem, solution – closed propertythe percentage of which is much higher than that of Airbnb.”

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