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

Abstract

Despite the overwhelming impact of the pandemic across all domains, short-term rental (STR) was especially hard hit. Unlike the literature on Covid and tourism, scientific production on the pandemic and STR remains rare. This article presents the results of a pioneering survey of STR hosts in Portugal about the impact of Covid on their activity. The main results show that, 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, given 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 and, consequently, of the urban centres in which most of the STRs are concentrated. 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 much larger group of self-employed entrepreneurs.