Photo: Azulblue / Shutterstock.com Very interesting data is being revealed today (July 9, 2026) in a special report by Eurostat, the European Union's research institute. According to the new data, there has been a meteoric rise in demand for short-term apartment rentals among tourists, with digital platforms becoming the dominant force in the market.
According to the data, in 2024, no less than 854.1 million guest nights in short-term apartments were booked through the four leading digital platforms: Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and TripAdvisor. This massive demand is also well reflected in the overall market share of the accommodation industry in the European Union. In 2025, holiday apartments and short-term accommodation solutions accounted for approximately 24.1% of all tourist nights in the continent (out of a total of 3.09 billion nights).
The popularity of these rentals is notably concentrated in key Mediterranean summer and leisure tourism destinations. The Andalusia region of Spain is the most sought-after region on the continent for short-term rental apartments, with a record 44.1 million nights booked through online platforms.
Furthermore, the data shows that in 20 different regions across Europe, located in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Croatia, the volume of overnight stays in short-term apartments easily exceeded the 10 million overnight stays threshold per region.