Map of tourist overload in Athens: which areas are turning into solid hotels

Athens continue to transform from city that hosts tourists, to the city, an increasingly large part of which works to serve tourists.

The new version of the municipality’s tourism capacity study shows that after the pandemic, the number of accommodation facilities, guests and overnight stays is growing significantly faster than the capacity of residential areas and urban infrastructure.

Tourism exceeds pre-pandemic levels

The Municipality of Athens presented the first update “Tourist Capacity Research”, prepared in 2024. Constant monitoring is carried out by the Observatory of Sustainable Tourism, operating under the municipal company “Anaptixia Athinas”.

The study covers the period from 2018 to 2025 and allows you to compare the situation before the pandemic, during the temporary collapse of the tourism market and after its recovery. The main conclusion is quite predictable, although the city authorities needed a separate observatory for it: tourism has not only returned, but has already significantly exceeded the figures for 2019.

This is not just about the growth in the number of hotels or apartments on digital platforms. Tourist flows, the duration of use of city infrastructure and the concentration of guests in individual neighborhoods have increased.

Mayor of Athens Haris Doukas recognized that the city needs tourism, but at the same time must preserve residential areas for permanent residents. According to him, the concentration of 60% of tourist sites in one municipal district shows that it is impossible to apply the same policy to all areas.

19 thousand objects and 105 thousand places

According to Municipality of Athens, in 2025 he worked in the city 19,071 tourist accommodation facilities. In 2018 there were 14,288. Thus, in eight years the number of objects has increased by almost a third.

The total number of available tourist sites has exceeded 105,000, which is 24.3% more than in 2018. By comparison, the permanent population of the Athens municipality is only a few hundred thousand people. In the most popular neighborhoods, the ratio of guests to residents is already changing not only the real estate market, but also the very nature of city life.

The main driver of growth was short-term rentals. In 2025, the study estimated 18,769 STR objects — apartments and houses offered through short-term accommodation platforms.

Compared to 2018, their number increased by 33.5%and relative to 2021, when the market was still experiencing the consequences of the pandemic, the growth was almost 60%.

At the same time, the hotel sector continued to expand: the number of hotels has increased by 29.1%. Therefore, reducing the tourist overload solely to Airbnb apartments would be too convenient. The city is expanding its entire range of accommodation, from small apartments to large hotel projects.

Tourist load is growing faster than the number of rooms

The number of objects in itself does not fully show the scale of what is happening. Much more revealing is the data on how many tourists and overnight stays there are per permanent resident.

For eight years the number overnight stays per resident increased by 183.7%, that is, almost tripled. The number of tourists per capita increased by 142.2%.

It is this gap that shows the real load. The number of placements has increased by about a quarter, and the intensity of their use has more than doubled. Apartments and hotels fill up more often, the tourist season gets longer, and the center of Athens is virtually open all year round.

For the municipality, this means additional burden on street cleaning, garbage collection, water supply, public transport, sidewalks, squares and security services. At the same time, a significant part of tax revenues from the tourism business goes to the state, while everyday expenses are borne by the city.

For residents, the consequences are even more prosaic: noise from constantly changing neighbors, suitcases on the sidewalks, overcrowded transport, the disappearance of brick-and-mortar stores and the proliferation of establishments catering to the person who spends three days in a neighborhood and is not particularly interested in the price of coffee.

Which areas of Athens are the most congested?

The strongest pressure remains in 1st municipal district. It accounts for almost 60% of all tourist attractions in Athens.

The stable “hard center” of tourism specialization includes:

• Athens shopping center around Syntagma, Omonia and Ermou Street;
• Monastiraki and Plaka;
• Psiri and Kumunduru Square;
• Makriyani and Acropolis area;
• Thisio;
• Agios Konstantinos and Vathis Square;
• Callirhois;
• Durguti in Neos Cosmos;
• Plastiras Square area in Pangrati.

In these neighborhoods, tourist housing has ceased to be an addition to the usual urban environment. It has become one of its defining elements.

The most impressive growth was recorded in the shopping center of Athens, where the number of short-term rental properties in eight years almost tripled.

Plaka and Monastiraki have long lived mainly at the expense of visitors. A more worrying sign is the spread of the same pattern to areas that until recently remained predominantly residential.

Tourism goes beyond the historical center

A particularly noticeable increase in short-term rentals was recorded in Kukaki and Exarchies. This shows that tourism pressure is gradually spreading beyond the traditional historical core.

A similar process occurs in Neos Kosmos, Pangrati, Metaxourgio and Petralona. Travelers are looking for more affordable housing near the metro and the center, and owners are following the demand. A few years later, a neighborhood considered “too far from the Acropolis” suddenly finds half the entrance wheeling suitcases toward the station every morning.

Expansion intensifies after saturation of the central zones. When the number of properties in Plaka or Koukaki reaches a high level, investors move to neighboring areas where apartments are cheaper and restrictions are looser.

This means that a ban in only three municipal districts can not stop the market, but redirect it. Tourist sites may appear more actively in Kypseli, Patisia, Ambelokipi and other areas not yet covered by the freeze on new registrations.

Did the ban on new Airbnb properties work?

C January 1, 2025 In the 1st, 2nd and 3rd municipal districts of Athens, the initial registration of new properties in the state register of short-term rentals is prohibited.

The restriction covers a large part of the center, including Plaka, Monastiraki, Koukaki, Kolonaki, Exarchia, Neos Kosmos, Pangrati, Metaxourgio, Gazi, Petralona and Thisio. “Athens News” told more about the geography of the ban in the material “Airbnb: ban in three areas of Athens”.

At the end of 2025 the restriction was extended to December 31, 2026. The decision specifically prohibits the first registration of an object. Already existing registry numbers continue to be valid subject to compliance with established requirements.

Violation is subject to a fine of 50% of income from illegal short-term rentals, but not less 20,000 euros. In case of repeated violation, the minimum penalty increases to 40,000 euros.

Early data shows that the measure has indeed slowed down market expansion. In 2023–2024, the number of STR facilities in the first three counties increased by 18–20%. In 2024–2025, growth rates fell to a range of 1.7% to 5.4%.

In addition, the statistics compare 2024, when property owners may have rushed to register before the ban took effect, with the first year of restrictions. Therefore, the final assessment of the result should be after several years of observations.

What’s happening to housing for permanent residents?

The main social issue is not the number of tourists per se, but how many apartments remain available to people who live and work in Athens all year round.

When long-term rent brings the owner roughly 700–900 euros per month, and daily rent in high season can give more, the choice of many owners is obvious. At the same time, the short-term model allows you to revise the price more often and avoid some of the problems associated with long-term contracts and non-payments.

As a result, tenants compete not only with each other, but also with tourism demand, foreign buyers, the Golden Visa program, investment funds and owners who prefer to keep properties empty.

It is especially difficult for young families, students, service workers and government employees. Their salaries are not growing at the same rate as the cost of housing in central and well-connected areas.

At the same time, the structure of the neighborhoods themselves is changing. Hardware stores, workshops, small grocery stores and services designed for regular customers are disappearing. In their place are luggage storage rooms, vehicle rental offices, souvenir shops, bars, cafes and automatic laundries.

Economic activity continues, but the area gradually loses population, social connections and the ability to reproduce normal daily life. It turns out to be a perfectly monetized decoration of the city – very profitable until tourists decide that the next fashionable capital is more interesting.

Is it really Airbnb’s fault?

Making Airbnb the sole culprit in the housing crisis would be as simplistic as arguing that short-term rentals have no impact on the housing market at all.

In the city center, the concentration of tourist apartments obviously reduces the supply for permanent tenants. This is especially noticeable not on the scale of the whole of Attica, but in individual neighborhoods, where a significant part of the habitable stock has already transferred to the tourism sector.

But there are other reasons for the housing crisis:

• a large number of empty and legally problematic apartments;
• old housing stock requiring expensive repairs;
• low rate of construction of affordable housing;
• rising costs of materials and work;
• investment purchases of real estate by foreigners;
• high cost of lending;
• weak protection for owners in long-term disputes with tenants;
• lack of a large-scale social housing program.

Athens News previously examined an alternative point of view in an article “Housing is becoming more expensive, and Airbnb is being made “extreme”: who benefits from this?”. The studies cited in the story drew attention to the huge number of empty properties that are not returning to the market even with restrictions on short-term rentals.

Therefore, a ban on new registrations may slow down further deterioration of the situation in the center, but will not in itself create thousands of affordable apartments. To do this, it is necessary to return abandoned housing to use, simplify repairs and inheritance procedures, expand long-term rentals and build new housing stock.

New requirements for short-term rental properties

From October 2025, short-term rental properties must also meet new technical and sanitary requirements. They must have natural light and ventilation, air conditioning, liability insurance, an electrician’s certificate, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, a first aid kit and designated emergency exits.

For violations there are fines from 5000 to 20,000 euros. A detailed list of requirements is published in the material “Airbnb in Greece: new rules and fines from October 1”.

These standards are aimed primarily at the quality and safety of accommodation, and not at reducing the number of objects. They can displace some of the semi-legal premises, basements and apartments without basic conditions, but professional operators will most likely simply include the new costs in the cost of living.

What could happen next

The municipal observatory should regularly update indicators and track where tourism activity is moving after restrictions are introduced.

If growth continues to slow in the first three counties, officials may present the ban as a successful model. If new objects begin to appear en masse in neighboring areas, the question of expanding the geography of restrictions will arise.

However, the central problem remains the lack of a clear boundary of tourist capacity. The municipality is recording an increase in pressure, but has not yet determined what number of apartments, places and overnight stays should be considered the maximum for each quarter.

Without such criteria, “sustainable tourism” risks remaining a nice phrase that accompanies further increases in the number of hotels and visitors.

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