Beautiful European city popular with Brits introduces a one-year ban to tackle overtourism

One of Europe’s most beautiful cities, and a favourite among British tourists, has taken a big step to tackle overtourism and a growing housing crisis.

From the start of the year, Athens has introduced a one-year ban on new short-term rental listings in some of its busiest areas, including Kolonaki, Koukaki, Pangrati, and Exarchia.

The move is designed to slow down the rapid rise of platforms like Airbnb, which in 2024 had more available rental beds than all of Greece’s hotels combined for the first time.

By August, Greece had 1.022 million short-term rental beds, compared to 887,740 in hotels.

Image credit: Margareths1, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons // https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Athens_Parthenon_Acropolis.jpg

Although short-term rentals have been hugely profitable for Greece’s booming tourism industry, they’ve also made it harder for locals to find affordable housing, especially in lower-income areas.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis defended the decision, saying it was necessary to strike a balance between tourism and residents’ rights.

“The character of our neighbourhoods must not be changed, and one person’s right to make money shouldn’t take away another person’s right to housing,” he said.

Each year, around 6.4 million visitors travel to Athens, eager to see famous sights like the Acropolis and other ancient landmarks.

Image credit: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons // https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asteras_Beach_Glyfada_Athens,_Greece_(44869108691).jpg

Tourism is a huge part of Greece’s economy, making up nearly one-fifth of the country’s GDP in 2022.

But this heavy dependence on tourism has made Athens' housing crisis even worse.

In Greece, housing costs take up over 40 percent of people’s disposable income – more than anywhere else in Europe. As a result, seven in ten Greeks under 34 still live with their parents because they can’t afford their own place.

The increase in short-term holiday rentals has only added to the problem, with many properties being turned into Airbnbs or co-working spaces for tourists and remote workers.

This trend has exploded by 500 percent in less than ten years, forcing many Athenians to move out of the city.

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