Covid-19 and short-term rental in Portugal: Unpredictable futures

• Autor(a) principal: Pereira, S. M.
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Carreira, M., Matos, M.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/28300
• topic: Short-term rentals; Covid-19; Impacts; Portugal; Hosts

This article presents the results of a pioneering online survey of short-term rental (STR) hosts (N=879) in Portugal about the impact of Covid on their activity, with a sample structured into four areas (Lisbon, Porto, Algarve and the rest of the country). Despite the very high losses, especially in the cities, most of the respondents intend to continue operating in the STR sector. A massive migration from STR to long-term rental is not predicted for a number of reasons, including financial, those related to the nature of this type of supply – more temporary – and the high level of distrust of the state, specifically in terms of guaranteeing legislative stability. In the cities, medium-term rental is the alternative most commonly considered, suggesting there may be a possible restructuring of the sector. Survival capacity over the medium term will depend on the degree of losses and type of public support received during the pandemic, which has benefited hosts constituted as companies more than the sole proprietorships.