The “flagship for short-term accommodation” is Crete with 24,800 properties and Chania “leads” with the most properties being used in this way, as noted by the president of the Panhellenic Association of Property Managers (PASYDA), Andreas Chiou, speaking to ANT1 West Crete and journalists manoli konsolakis and george georgakakis (show “Microphone for 2”).
“We have prepared a map of Crete, which is very impressive, to see where these 24,800 properties are. You will see that many of them are located in various areas, which one would say are non-touristy, in some villages, in some mountains, that have really developed due to the short term,” Mr. Chiou noted.
THE “WAR” OF THE HOTELS AND THE RESPONSES
He pointed out that short-term leasing receives a “war” by hoteliers, with arguments that do not correspond to reality.
As Mr. Chiou said, it has started “…a war by the hoteliers, with pressure on the government to take some restrictive measures mainly because they feel threatened, but they are not. The numbers show the opposite. We have verified that the short-term stay has not taken anything from the “pie” of the hoteliers. They have simply made their own “pie” because you will see that the hotels are full again, their occupancy is close to 90-95% and their prices are constantly rising and they always have clients, so they have not lost anything. We have simply brought people to Greece who would not have come. In other words, a head of the family to come to Greece had to reserve 2 or 3 rooms in a hotel to accommodate her family during their vacations. The cost of this stay in Greece was extremely high. We gave the world an escape and someone can rent an apartment, stay there and spend 1/3, 1/4 the price they would. So we brought more people.”
When asked about the possibility of a time limit on short-term leases, Mr. Chiou emphasized that for “The legislative and fiscal issues that you mentioned, I would tell you the following: There can be no limitation. Because quite simply, short-term leases belong to urban leases. It is an urban lease, so we cannot put a condition. Each owner can do what they want with their property, they can rent it however they want. Of course there are many reactions from people who are mostly unaware that the short-term lease does not belong to tourism, it is not a tourist lease, but an urban lease. Those who have gone to court have been rejected for this very reason.”
THE MOST BASIC ISSUES OF SHORT TERM RENTAL
Referring to the main issues concerning those related to short-term residence, Mr. Chiou pointed out that “There are many issues. Taxes have been regulated for 2-3 years. There are some Technical problems. For example, the tickets on the platforms. Every platform changes a few things, so we also need to adapt our listings to be compatible with their new systems. Then don’t forget that short-term rental started in the years of the financial crisis in Greece, during which time, if you remember, many of our young people went abroad, leaving properties here in Greece to be managed by their parents, their relatives. , people who were not so knowledgeable about IT and electronic management and suddenly found themselves managing some Airbnb properties without knowing the basics of a computer. So we also train these people. How to start managing your property through a computer, a tablet, a mobile phone. Then there are the legal matters. There are many cases. Some apartment building tenants do not want to have short-term rental property in their apartment building, so they go to court. We have many such cases. And then there is fiscal support. That everyone knows what they have to do to be in line with the law and not have problems”.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANIES
Regarding companies that have leased dozens of properties and manage them through short-term leases, Mr. Chiou said that “The companies started their activity basically because there was no knowledge on the part of some natural persons who have properties about how they can manage them for short-term rental. These companies provided a solution.”
SHORT TERM RENTAL OBSERVATORY
The president of the Panhellenic Association of Property Managers also emphasized that “We have shown many times that what interests us is not only the things in our house. In general, we are interested in tourism and, of course, we want it to have a sustainable development, because we are talking about Greece, about our country, which only has income from tourism. That is why we have done many things and I tell you that ehwe as an Association are preparing the new short-stay observatory that did not exist until now. It will be statistics and maps that will show the development of short-term stays in Greece, so that we can see where we need to intervene or not.”
ESTABLISHMENT OF AN OFFICE BY PASYDS IN CHANIA
The Panhellenic Association of Property Managers, as Mr. Chiou mentioned, “started in 2018 with over 6000 members across Greece and basically educates and helps those who have short term property to know more about what they can do with their property in their best interest.”
In fact, the Association seeks to establish an office in Chania. “In Chania there are already many members in our Association. As individuals but also as companies that are active in short-term stays and we want there to be an office, as there is in other areas, where they can meet, have a local partner, who will be able to solve any doubt – question they have, so they don’t have to call the head office, which will always be at their disposal. But another thing is to have a local office with which we will also have a better cooperation. They will be, so to speak, our eyes and ears in Crete”stressed Mr. Chiou.
Stock Photo: Filippos Tsagakis.