Is Airbnb really the cause of the depopulation of the centers? What the numbers say
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From Predoi in Valle Aurina to the less populated Pelagie, Linosa. From north to south of Italy, on Airbnb they are rented over 400,000 between apartments and rooms. Ours is the third country in the world for offers, after the United States and France. An enormous offer, which has radically changed the tourism market. From 2008 to today, the year in which Airbnb arrived in Italy, tourists have increased from 42 to 164 million. 80% of those who rent through the short-term rental platform come from abroad. Americans, French, Germans and English are the most numerous.
If on the one hand Airbnb has contributed to the explosion of tourism, on the other it is also the cause of phenomena that have changed the centers of art cities. Influencing the real estate market, the rental market and the hospitality services market. Florence – perhaps with Venice – is the symbol city of this phenomenon. Dario Nardella, mayor of the city, decided on June 1 to stop short-term rentals in the center. Promising incentives for those who decide to rent out their properties for long periods.
Those traveling with Airbnb spend 117 euros a day. Renters earn an average of 5,000 euros a year
The average price of houses for rent on Airbnb is around 60 euros. In the centers it rises up to almost 100 euros per night. According to company data, each guest on Airbnb spends around 117 euros a day. 41 for bars and restaurants. A constant flow of people which, for local administrators and associations, would be much higher than what cities can offer.
Since it was listed, the company has not shared the details of its turnover in Italy. The latest data relate to 2019, when it brought 11.5 million people to Italy for a figure of around 2 billion. After the pandemic, which has put society on the ropes, tourism has started to run again. Back to pre-covid levels. The numbers today could be much higher.
Some independent studies estimate that overall those who rent houses on the platform earn an average of 5,000 euros a year. According to Airbnb, 80% of Italian ‘hosts’ (landlords) do not do it by profession. But use the extra income to improve your economic conditions. And around 77% of listings on Airbnb in Italy refer to owners with only one rental property. The remaining 23% do it by profession. While 7% have more than five properties on the platform. About 25,000 people.
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How many houses does Airbnb occupy in Italian historical centres? Data from Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice and Naples
Soaring house prices in big cities is a fact. That they have also become inaccessible to a large part of the urban population. The available data do not help to understand the responsibilities. But they can help to think about the phenomenon. Sites like InsideAirbnb.com map the number of listings to major tourist cities.
For Italy: Rome, Milan, Venice, Florence and Naples. And we can relate these data to those of Istat, which censuses the number of apartments. It turns out that, for example, in Rome there are 1 million apartments. Of these 25,000 are on Airbnb, around 2.6%; in Milan there are 20,000 of 700,000 (3%); in Naples 8 thousand out of 360 thousand (2.3%).
Percentages that rise for Florence and Venice: for the first they are 11,000 out of 179,000; for the second, 7.5 thousand out of 120 thousand, with percentages above 6%. However, the report does not take into account that most of the apartments on Airbnb are in the city center. Where the percentages of apartments for short-term rentals could easily rise and exceed 25% on average.
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Government squeeze. Airbnb’s proposal
The government is discussing a bill to try to limit the phenomenon of short-term rentals. So also Airbnb. The tightening, invoked by Federalberghi, is on the table of the Minister for Tourism, Daniela Santanché. A draft was circulated during the week. There is a squeeze. Introduces a two-night minimum stay.
Furthermore, the bill introduces the obligation to report the apartment by asking the ministry for a single national code, to be displayed on advertisements and on the entrance door. While Airbnb seems to agree with the second measure, it doesn’t agree with the first, considering it punitive towards small homeowners.
The company founded in 2006 in San Francisco does not deny the need for rules. Just as there are in the main European countries. And he made a counter-proposal to the Italian government.
There are three solutions: display of an identification code, on the model of the bill, to ensure that the authorities take decisions in an informed manner and report irregularities; mapping of neighborhoods with strong tourist pressure on which to intervene with limitations; defense of the right to rent houses for small owners, regulating timeshares more stringently.
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