Tel Aviv Airbnb bookings hold firm despite closed skies

With hotels and the skies closed, Israelis have replaced foreign tourists in the short-term apartments rental market.

Israel's skies may have been closed to foreign tourists since March 2020 but there has been only a modest fall in the short-term rentals being offered in Tel Aviv by Airbnb, Booking.com, Tripadvisor and HomeAway.

In January 2021, there were 9,500 properties available for short-term rent in Tel Aviv, mainly entire apartments, with 32% occupation, at an average price of $147 per day. In January 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, there were 12,400 properties for short-term rent in Tel Aviv with 36% occupation, at an average price of $152 per day.

Most of the properties in 2020 were advertised for foreign tourists while most of the properties this year are being rented by Israelis.

The market suffered in March and April 2020 during the first lockdown but between August and November there were 10,500 properties available in Tel Aviv for short-term rental with 34% occupation and an average price of $143 per day.

Israelis it seems need short-term rentals in Tel Aviv for a range of reasons including being in between selling and buying apartments, Israelis abroad who are remote working anyway so have come home to work from here, and Israeli who simply want a vacation in the city.

Tel Aviv Municipality head of communications Eytan Schwartz said, "We see a real rise in the rate of Israelis leasing short-term apartment rentals in Tel Aviv-Yafo for vacations. With Israelis closed into the country, the hotels closed and there is no tourism because the option of a vacation abroad is blocked and it's impossible to book hotels, so apartments are being rented."

Schwartz added, "Thousands of apartments have returned to the long-term rental market. This is something that the municipality has wanted."

A similar trend has been felt in Eilat, where there are 3,000 apartments for short-term rental while the city's hotels are closed.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 23, 2021

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021

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