Number of nights spent in short-term lets in Ireland breaks record in 2025

The reliance of the sector in Ireland on foreign tourists was also highlighted, with overseas visitors accounting for almost 6.2 million guest nights booked in short-term tourist accommodation last year — an annual increase of 12%. File picture

A record 8.4 million guest nights were booked for short-term tourist accommodation in Ireland last year through leading online booking platforms, up 13% on the year before.

New figures published by the European Commission show almost 980,000 extra guest nights were spent in short-stay accommodation in the Republic in 2025 with a record total of 8,419,318.

The figures, based on reservations made by holidaymakers through Airbnb, Booking and Expedia, have increased by almost two million since 2023.

They relate to stays in holiday rentals offered via the three online platforms but exclude bookings in hotels and campsites. Almost 1.5 million guest nights in Ireland were booked via the three platforms for stays in July alone — a new monthly record.

The figures also confirm a strong performance by that sector of the tourist industry across the EU as a whole, with the number of guest nights booked on such platforms last year up 11% to 951.6 million.

The reliance of the sector in Ireland on foreign tourists was also highlighted, with overseas visitors accounting for almost 6.2 million guest nights booked in short-term tourist accommodation last year — an annual increase of 12%.

However, the rate of increase was even higher among domestic holidaymakers who booked 2.26 million guest nights through the three platforms — almost 325,000 more nights than in 2024, representing an annual increase of 17%.

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Nevertheless, the figures show Ireland is more dependent on overseas visitors for bookings in short-stay accommodation than many other countries, as they account for 73% of such guest nights in the Republic compared to the EU average of 62%.

A report by the European Commission also provides a breakdown of figures for the three different EU regions of Ireland, although they are currently only available for the first nine months of last year.

They show that almost 2.62 million guest nights were spent in the South, including Cork, Kerry, Clare, Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny — up 9% on the corresponding period in 2024.

While the Southern region had the largest number of guest nights, stronger growth was recorded in the other two regions over the first three quarters of 2025.

The most popular EU region for booking short-term tourist accommodation through online booking platforms last summer was Adriatic Croatia with 27.7 million nights, followed by Andalucia in Spain (19.5 million) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in France (16.9 million).

The 20 most popular regions were all located in just six EU countries — with six in France, five in Spain, four in Italy, three in Greece and one each in Portugal and Croatia.

Short-term let legislation

The figures published by Eurostat are the result of a landmark agreement reached in 2020 between the European Commission and leading platforms providing short-term accommodation booking services.

The figures no longer include data on bookings made via Tripadvisor since the start of 2025 after the company exited the short-stay accommodation sector.

New legislation in Ireland is due to come into effect on May 20, which will require providers of short-term letting to register their property with Fáilte Ireland.

Accommodation units, which are available for rent for periods of up to 21 nights at a time, will be issued with a unique identity number, which must be used in all listings and advertisements.

Providers must also demonstrate that the accommodation units are compliant with planning legislation, although those living in towns with a population of under 20,000 have two years to meet planning compliance requirements.