The number of bookings through Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and TripAdvisor in Cyprus continues to grow, according to new data from Eurostat.
Between January and September 2024, locals and tourists used online services for short-term rentals on the island 4,806,492 times, compared to 4,163,970 in the same months of 2023. The increase was 15.4%.
Meanwhile, the highest number of overnight stays was recorded in August 2024 with 939,859 (+17.4 per cent) compared to 800,357 in the corresponding month of 2023. Cyprus residents and visitors used short-term rental services the least in January 2024, with 200 208 times compared to 165 684 times in January 2023.
In turn, the total number of short-term rental bookings in the EU reached 366.2 million nights in the third quarter of 2024.
Interestingly, the figures rose in all three months, with a 16.4 per cent increase in July compared to July 2023, a 21.6 per cent increase in August and a 14 per cent increase in September. Malta (+41.4 per cent), Germany (+32.7 per cent) and France (+29.9 per cent) saw significant increases in bookings on Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and TripAdvisor platforms compared to 2023. At the other end of the scale were Croatia (+9.7%), Bulgaria (+12.2%) and Slovenia (+13.6%).
Overall, short-term rental bookings in the EU reached 79,010,570 nights in September, compared to 69,296,539 in September 2023.