With vacation rental demand climbing again, and average daily rate (ADR) higher than ever, vacation rental management is a more attractive business prospect than ever. This new and improved potential is causing supply and professional competition to grow. So, how significant is vacation rental growth in your European Destination? Today we look at the vacation rental data for countries and cities in Europe experiencing the greatest growth since 2019.
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- growth in the largest supply countries
- overall countries with most rapid growth
- cities experiencing greatest growth
- professional supply growth
Vacation rental growth across top European countries
First off, we take a look at the countries with the most significant supply in Europe. This list of top 20 countries account for 94% of European vacation rental supply. Moreover, just the top 5 of France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Germany represent 64% of European inventory, so any growth amongst them represents a substantial shift.
Encouragingly, 16 of 20 largest supply nations have seen an increase in their vacation rental supply. Only Portugal, Denmark, The Netherlands and Hungary have seen a dip in inventory since 2019. While reduction in Portugal and particularly The Netherlands is negligible, Denmark and Hungary have experienced more significant inventory shrinkage, at 16% and 11% respectively.
Meanwhile, France and Italy – the largest European vacation rental supply countries by a margin – have both grown, although it is France showing significant improvement. Indeed, its 23% growth pushes French property count beyond 800k. In fact, it is one of 8 in our top supply list exceeding 20% growth over the past 3 years, and one of the ten making it to our overall list of top growth nations in Europe.
European Destinations with greatest growth
Next we dive into the outright winning European destinations in vacation rental supply growth. Again looking at the number of entire home vacation rental properties listed on Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and TripAdvisor in June 2022 versus June 2019, we consider those European countries first. Then, we look at the European cities exhibiting most growth in listings 2019-2022.
European countries with most significant vacation rental supply growth
Top of the pile is Gibraltar, whose growth to 244 properties means a 76% increase. Comparing that to the 800k+ vacation rentals in France exposes the limitation of this list; only 53% of European supply lies in these 20 countries, compared with the 93% above.
Albeit generally smaller European destinations, it is still interesting to consider which countries are seeing the most relative growth, as this paints a picture of where vacation rentals are booming. In addition to Gibraltar, Albania has also experienced a >50% rise in vacation rental inventory since 2019.
European cities with most significant vacation rental supply growth
As mentioned, next we consider the top 50 cities in Europe in terms of vacation rental supply, and pick out those who have seen the greatest increase over the past 3 years.
Gdansk, Poland is the clear winner here as you can see (+22%). Croatia's Makarska is the only other top European city with growth in doubles figures.
In fact, you may notice that 10th spot on our list - Vienna - is at 0%. Indeed, the majority of the top 50 European cities by supply have seen that supply shrink since 2019. And if you think about it, that tracks; with so many of that list being larger, urban hubs that have seen less growth.
Furthermore, the only city in the top 10 largest markets appearing in this list is Athens. With the exception Athens (arguably coastal) and Vienna, our other top growing European cities are in fact all coastal cities.
How professionalized is your destination?
The maturation of the vacation rental industry is clear to see in supply numbers. However, in addition to improved choice for travellers, it also signifies more competition for vacation rental property managers. Professional supply moreover, represents an increase in high occupancy stock. The pro:non-pro ratio can impact destination revenues and also be a good gauge for destinations understanding the importance of regulation.
For example, Paris, whose supply has actually shrunk 27% since 2019, has seen a 35% increase in the proportion of professional stock over the same time period. Indeed, only 2 cities and 1 country have seen a meaningful reduction in professionalisation. Overall, professional supply in Europe is up 21% since 2018, at 35% in total. The most professionalised top European cities are Barcelona and London, with a huge 55% and 47% of inventory professionally managed respectively. In terms of countries, Croatia and Spain have the highest % of professional supply (54% and 41%).
How significant is vacation rental growth in your European Destination?
The question is, what will this list look like next year? Will your destination appear? With access to vacation rental data, you can track the status and performance of your destination. How significant is vacation rental growth in your European Destination? Take the first step in learning your destination back to front by booking a demo with our team.