- Airbnb listings: 236,000 in May 2025, up 18,000 from May 2024
- Short-term rental beds: Surpassed 1,038,000 in May, breaking the 1 million barrier earlier than ever before
- Foreign share of Airbnb guests: 92% in May, leaving locals with the leftovers
- International arrivals: 6.3 million by May, 5.9% more than last year, including a wild 3 million in May alone
- Peak performance: Crete led with 1 million arrivals, up 54,000, while the Cyclades took a vacation from arrivals, dropping 15%
- Travel receipts: €2,157 million by April, a 10.6% jump, thanks mainly to tourists from beyond the Eurozone
- Spending bonanza: US visitors dropped 37% more cash, while Italy tightened its purse by almost 7%
- “All the counters are breaking”: INSETE’s own words, right before the data spilled out
Why Readers Should Care
- More beds mean more tourists but also more noise, higher rents, and locals playing hide and seek with affordable housing.
- Foreign demand squeezes Greek families out of the vacation market, reserving the best spots for those with the right passport (and bank account).
- The travel boom lines some pockets while leaving others with a view of the back alley.
The Airbnb Invasion: Beds for Days, Locals on the Run
The Greece Airbnb record has become the stuff of legend, or at least punchlines. May 2025 delivered numbers that seem less like tourism stats and more like a municipal census. Airbnb-style listings reached a stunning 236,000—an 18,000 leap from last May, while beds available for short-term rent shot over 1,038,000 across the country. Every mattress, futon, and couch is now part of Greece’s “official beds” inventory.
Spring saw the April milestone smashed, with more than 1 million beds logged. Compare that with last year, when the 7-digit club was exclusive to July, the classic season of overcrowded beaches and existential despair for parking spot seekers.
A Country Reserved: Foreigners Take Over, Greeks Get Leftovers
The report reads like a warning from a particularly sarcastic fortune teller. “Foreign guests now make up the overwhelming majority,” INSETE notes. January started with 60% of Airbnb guests coming from abroad. By spring, local vacation dreams had faded into a lopsided scoreboard—92% of May visitors waved non-Greek passports, leaving domestic guests just 8% of the pie. Or crumbs, instead.
Historical records are no comfort except to statisticians and property owners. Only twice since 2019 has the foreign share hit 92% or higher. For context, the highs in September 2023 and 2024 capped at 93%. May 2025, then, is not an outlier. It is the new normal, with “the highest monthly share of foreign guests recorded this year,” as INSETE puts it, and readers are left to wonder if Greek holidays will soon be as rare as an uncrowded Santorini sunset.
Fly-In Takeover: Arrivals and Receipts Take Off
The skies, too, delivered a bumper crop. International flights brought 6.3 million visitors by May, up another hefty 5.9%. May alone saw 3 million because who doesn’t love a good stampede through airport security? Crete took the crown with 1 million new arrivals, while the Ionian and Dodecanese islands tried, in vain, to catch up. Only the Cyclades, perhaps tired of all the attention, managed a drop of 24,000—proof that even paradise has a breaking point.
All this travel brought a predictable twist: record spending. Greece counted €2,157 million in tourism income by April, up 10.6% compared to last year. Tourists from “other countries” are picking up the slack left by the EU crowd. The United Kingdom increased its contribution by 23%, and Americans, never shy about their appetite for gyros and Instagram posts, spent 37% more. Germans, ever reliable, gave a modest boost, while Italians and the French decided to enjoy their beaches—a 6.6% and 25% decline in spending, respectively.
Main Points as a Bullet List
- Greece Airbnb record: more than 1,038,000 beds available by May 2025, smashing previous years’ milestones
- Short-term rental properties reached 236,000 listings, leaving little space for traditional hotels or residents
- Foreign tourists dominated, making up 92% of Airbnb guests in May
- International arrivals soared, especially in Crete, with smaller islands seeing mixed results
- Tourism income rose over 10% despite mixed fortunes from specific European countries
- Domestic travellers continue to lose ground, edged out of their market
“All the counters are breaking,” quipped INSETE, as Greece’s tourism sector embraced the numbers—while locals embraced patience (and earplugs).
Problem Bullet List
- Neighborhoods lose available housing to short-term rentals
- Greeks priced out of their vacation spots
- Tourist season extends earlier each year, crowding towns and islands for longer stretches
- Income from tourism grows but unevenly benefits only certain regions and owners
- Traditional hospitality squeezed by explosive growth in Airbnb and similar platforms
What Does It All Mean?
For travellers, it means more beds and choices, at least if they book early and speak a foreign language. For residents, it means a shrinking share of their own country. For everyone else, it means watching Greece become a case study in abundance—of tourists, transactions, and perhaps unintended consequences.
