Spanish hotels can lose the competition to online booking platforms
In the tourist real estate market in Spain, there is increased competition. The number of accommodations offered to travelers will soon equal the number of rooms. This situation is forcing Italian hotels to ask for help from the government to introduce mechanisms to regulate the situation in the short-term rental sector.
At the moment in the 20 largest cities in Spain, approximately 300 thousand apartments are offered for overnight stays or short stays. At the same time, hotels have 389,779 rooms for tourists. Hoteliers are increasingly concerned about such trends and require the government to introduce restrictive measures for short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb. It should be noted that the authorities have already prepared a bill, but it has not yet been approved.
The accommodation search and booking service Airbnb reported 3Q 2022 and highlighted new trends. According to the report, the platform recorded a 31% increase in the number of single rooms, with no similar dynamics previously observed. Analysts at Airbnb explain these changes by the fact that more people are looking for additional sources of income and began to rent their homes to tourists.
Market research company Exceltur found that in Spain, renting a property for short-term use is 2 times more profitable than for long-term rentals. Moreover, the proposals from homeowners are cheaper than hotel reservations.
Statistics show that in at least six major cities of the country the number of tourist accommodations has increased. Most of these objects are located in central areas of cities. The number of such proposals for the year increased by more than 34%, and they are in direct competition with hotels.
In Seville alone, about 6 out of 10 houses in the center are available for short-term rentals through online booking platforms. In Madrid, about 30% of homes around the historic center are available for rent. In comparison, the growth in hotel rooms in Barcelona, Seville, and Madrid since 2010 was only 2%.
According to representatives of associations of hoteliers, hotels and private landlords should have an equal opportunity to attract guests. For this purpose, accommodation, which is offered by online booking platforms, must comply with certain requirements and rules.
It should be noted that the problem of regulating the activities of services for short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, is observed not only in Spain. The European Union has already prepared a corresponding document that will make the work of online platforms more transparent. According to the bill, the services will have to provide data on how many users make rentals, for how many nights, and other information.