More than 340,000 tourists visited Athens in 2018, through Airbnb’s accommodation, leaving 89.5m euros in the city, according to data presented by the President of Pan-Hellenic Association of Real Estate Managers (PASIDA) Andreas Chios at a joint event of the Commercial Association Athens and POMIDA for the present and the future of short-term leases in Athens, which took place on May 9th.
Short-term leasing has grown significantly over the last three years, contributing substantially to the overall tourism industry, Mr. Chios stressed.

The main conclusions that emerged from the workshop are as follows:
Short-term rental of real estate added premium value to the tourist product of each destination as well as the country as a whole and opened tourist markets attracting tourists who would not choose to travel to Greece if there was no choice of accommodation in short-term rentals.
Restricting this activity would be a fatal mistake and a blow to the tourism industry.
This activity must be exercised under conditions of total legality.
Any proposal to deem short-term leasing activities on the part of individuals as a professional activity, leading to possible higher tax rates and the need for bureaucratic permits would be unacceptable.