Greece led the demand for the Catholic Easter in terms of the short-term rental market. And this despite the fact that the specific period gave at a pan-European level significant boost in the accommodations rented through the press platform Airbnbwith the increase in demand from the 14% in the last half of the year on an annual basis exceeding in March the 32%. Nordic countries took the lion’s share last month, with a rise of more than 60%.
In more detail, Greece in March occupied a position among the countries that recorded the smallest increase in demand. Despite the fact that Easter week was observed anode in terms of reservations, our country did not manage to reach the sizes of other European states.
Specifically, in March the increase in demand for short-term rentals in Greece, according to the specialized platform AirDNA, amounted to 17.7% on an annual basis, at slightly higher levels than Switzerland, where the relative percentage was 17.6%. The last place was occupied by Croatian at 3.9%, while one place above Greece finished the Ireland, with the increase in demand amounting to 20.2% on an annual basis.
On the contrary, better performances in March were recorded by Scandinavian countries setting the tone, with Norway at plus 64.1%, Denmark following with an increase of 50% and Sweden following with an increase of 44.5%.
In fact, in 11 of the 20 countries under consideration (France, Poland, Austria, Greece, Norway, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom, Sweden, Portugal, Italy, Finland, Switzerland, Spain, Hungary, Netherlands, Ireland, Croatia, Denmark, Czech Republic), demand growth in March exceeded the 30% compared to the corresponding month of 2023. Significantly higher than Greece.
The Catholic Easter week
As for the demand in the last week of March, that of the Catholic Easter, an increase was recorded 55% on a pan-European level, in contrast to the first three of the same month, when the increase reached 20% on an annual basis.
In Switzerland and Ireland – the two countries which together with Greece moved on lower positions the whole of March-, the increase in demand in the last week of March reached 40%, with Croatia and Greece, however, lagging far behind and the relative percentages amounting to 24.5% and 6.8%.
On the contrary, in the last week of March the Norway saw an impressive 104.9% year-on-year increase in overnight stays, while Sweden saw a 95.6% increase. The number of overnight stays in Denmark was at similar levels, with the increase reaching 86.1% compared to last year.
The cities
At the level of cities, now, the occupancy at 50 areas in question hovered around 72% in the week of Catholic Easter compared to 61% in the first 3 weeks of March. They recorded the top performances with over 80% occupancy Florence (86%), Amsterdam (85%), Lisbon (84%), Prague (84%) and Porto (82%).
In all five cities, however, regulations adopted for the short-term rental market limit the number of available accommodations, leading to high occupancy during peak demand periods such as Easter. Athens, the only Greek city among the 50 under consideration, with occupancy at 70% was in the middle of the relevant list.
The first samples for the summer
Given that some of the demand due to the Catholic Easter celebration has shifted to March, April is expected to be a weakened month for the short-term rental market. So far the demand shows lag by 6.3% on a pan-European level, however, May saw a 27% increase in pre-bookings compared to last year.
Demand is moving upwards for the quarter as well June – Augustas it seems to have strengthened in percentage 21% on an annual basis.
As mentioned, in fact, the Olympic Games and her concerts Taylor Swift have significantly boosted demand for the foreseeable future across Europe.
