With a post accompanied by a characteristic snapshot from the AirDNA platform, the president of the Kefalonia Hoteliers Association, Gerasimos Timotheatos, sounds the alarm about the effects of the uncontrolled spread of short-term rental accommodations in Argostoli.
As he points out, “there is no longer a neighborhood in the city without Airbnb”, while this is one of the main reasons — but not the only one — that local consumption remains stagnant, despite the increase in arrivals. At the same time, finding housing for students, doctors, teachers, and citizens without property has become almost impossible.
Mr. Timotheatos emphasizes that the phenomenon burdens the local community, deserts the city during the winter months, and makes it difficult for businesses to survive. The perception that tourism brings easy and immediate profit through the rental of homes leads — as he states — to uncontrolled development, without a plan and with serious social consequences: from expensive rents to deforestation of permanent residence.
Regarding catering, the president of the hoteliers points out that low consumption does not mean an absence of money, but a shift of spending to other sectors, such as supermarkets, with a different contribution to the local economy.
