The Flexible Accommodation through online booking platforms such as Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group or TripAdvisor has experienced an unprecedented boom in the European Union during 2024. A new all-time high has been set with 854.1 million nights booked in short-stay accommodation, which represents a increase of 18,8% compared to 719.0 million nights in 2023.
This remarkable growth in the Flexible Accommodation remained constant throughout the year with the exception of April. In fact, most months of 2024 recorded a higher number of overnight stays compared to the same period of the previous year. The most significant increases were observed in March (+48.0%), May (+31.7%), August (+21.6%) y November (+21.5%). The slight decrease in April (-1.8%) and the sharp increase in March are attributed to the displacement of the Easter holidays, which took place in March 2024 and April 2023.
During the third quarter of 2024, Jadranska Hrvatska in Croatia ranked as most popular destination for the Flexible Accommodation booked online, with 25.2 million nights (+6.0% compared to the same quarter of 2023). It was followed by Andalusia in Spain with 17.2 million nights (+23.1%) and the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur with 15.6 million nights (+26.2%).
Among the 20 most demanded regions in the same quarter, France stood out with 6 regionswhile Spain and Italy had 5 each, Greece with 2, y Croatia and Portugal with 1 region each.
These data reflect the growing preference of travellers for the Flexible Accommodation offered by online platforms, consolidating their position as a key part of the European tourism sector. This trend underlines the importance of these platforms and destinations offering a wide variety of short-stay accommodation.
