Short-term rentals: over a million overnight stays at the beginning of the year

More than one million nights were booked by guests in Cyprus through Airbnb, Booking, and Expedia in the first quarter of 2026. According to Eurostat data, from January to March, exactly 1,013,843 person-nights were recorded in short-term rentals through these platforms.

The data also shows a clear seasonality in the market. In August 2025, the number of overnight stays was more than five times higher than in January of the same year. This is a summer-to-winter comparison, not a five-fold increase year-on-year.

Short-term rentals also in the off-season

The first quarter encompasses months when tourist traffic is significantly lower than in summer. Despite this, the number of overnight stays booked through the platforms surveyed exceeded one million.

For comparison, in the first three months of 2025, a total of 828,908 guest nights were recorded. The result for the beginning of 2026 was therefore about 22.3 percent higher.

However, this doesn't mean a million tourists or a million bookings. A person-night stay corresponds to one night spent by one guest. A couple staying in an apartment for seven nights therefore generates 14 person-night stays.

This distinction allows us to properly understand the scale of the market and compare stays of different lengths and numbers of participants.

August more than five times stronger than January

The peak interest in short-term rentals in 2025 occurred in August, with over 1.16 million person-night stays recorded, compared to approximately 222,000 in January.

Traffic began to accelerate significantly in the spring. In April, it exceeded 573,000 overnight stays, in June it reached almost 811,000, and in July, it surpassed one million for the first time this year.

Autumn still attracts visitors

After the summer peak, interest didn't immediately drop to winter levels. Nearly 928,000 person-night stays were recorded in September, and over 892,000 in October.

Only November brought a noticeable decline in traffic – to around 418,000. In December, the figure was just over 401,000.

For apartment owners, this means that September and October remain a significant part of the season. However, the data does not reflect prices, maintenance costs, or landlord profits. Therefore, a high number of overnight stays alone does not determine the profitability of a particular property.

The number of overnight stays is also growing in Europe

Eurostat published the new data on October 2. National data refer to the second quarter of 2026, while regional data refer to the first quarter.

From April to June, guests spent time throughout the EU 258.8 million person-nights in short-term accommodations booked through Airbnb, Booking, or Expedia. This is 5.3% more than a year earlier.

In the regional rankings for the first quarter, the Canary Islands and the French Rhône-Alpes region led the way, each with around 8.8 million overnight stays. Andalusia was next with 8.3 million.

Cyprus is treated as a single region in this statistic. Therefore, the figure reported for it covers the entire country, not just a single resort.

What do these statistics cover?

This summary covers short-term accommodation booked through participating platforms. It is not a summary of all tourist accommodations or all sales channels.

However, the data clearly shows two phenomena: an increase in overnight stays at the beginning of 2026 and a significant difference between winter and summer. Therefore, for those planning short-term rentals, the entire calendar is important, not just the results from the peak holiday month.

Sources: Eurostat, Cyprus Mail.