Short-term rentals: record online bookings, Italy among the leaders in Europe

Brussels – Holidays are increasingly being booked online, and Italy is the most attractive destination. According to the latest data released by  Eurostat, online booking giants such as Airbnb, Booking, and Expedia (all three American companies) are breaking records across the European Union. The number of bookings reached very high levels in 2025, especially during the summer. Between July and September, guests spent 398.1 million nights in short-term rentals in European properties. This figure is an all-time record, representing an increase of 8.7 per cent compared to the summer of 2024 and 28.2 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2023.

Between July and September 2025, guests spent 398.1 million nights in short-term rental accommodation in the EU, booked through Airbnb, Booking or Expedia.

Total number of guest nights increased by 8.7% compared with Q3 2024.

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— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) 8 January 2026

The most popular regions

However, only small areas of the continent are enjoying the triumph of European online tourism. The twenty most popular tourist regions are located in just five countries: Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Croatia. The title of Europe’s most popular region for short-term rentals goes to Andalusia, with 13.3 million nights booked on the three US tourist platforms. It is followed by Eastern Croatia (9.6 million) and the Paris region (9 million).

In Q2 2025, the most popular regions in the EU for short-term rental accommodation, booked via Airbnb, Booking or Expedia, were:

Andalucia (13.3 million nights)
Adriatic Croatia (9.6 million)
Ile de France (9.0 million)

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— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) 8 January 2026

Italian records

Italy boasts five regions among the twenty most visited. The national record belongs to Lazio, with more than 6 million nights booked in the region. It is followed, in order, by Lombardy, Tuscany, Sicily and Veneto. It is therefore inevitable that these regions have the largest supply of short-term rentals. This data is confirmed by the report of the Italian Association of Short-Term Rental Managers, presented to the Chamber of Deputies in 2024.

The figures in the study show that in Milan there are 15,586 online advertisements for short-term rentals, in Rome 21,942 and in Florence 9,239. These figures would have been unthinkable just ten years ago, but according to data released by operators in the sector, they still represent only a fraction (just over 1 per cent) of the cities’s offering.

The phenomenon has doubled in eight years

The trend seems unstoppable in any case. Taking Europe’s most popular tourist destination, Spain, as an example, in June 2018, tourists spent 9 million nights in short-term rental properties. Six years later, the number has almost doubled, reaching 17.8 million. However, this new wave has only benefited certain areas of Europe and almost exclusively US companies that are leaders in the online booking sector.