Short-term rentals in Malta: A look at Airbnb listings Reuben Ellul *1 Policy Note November 2019 1 * Reuben Ellul is a principal economist at the Economic Analysis Department of the Central Bank of Malta. The author would like to thank Mr. Alexander Demarco, Dr. Aaron G. Grech, Mr. Silvio Attard at the Bank, and Ms. Tania Sultana at the Malta Tourism Authority, for comments on earlier drafts of this study. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Central Bank of Malta. Any errors are the author’s own. Corresponding author’s email address:
[email protected] (Reuben Ellul) Abstract New technologies have affected many traditional industries, with disintermediation and innovation changing the manner in which individuals travel, commute or even purchase day-to-day items like food. While popular, many of the international technological plat- forms in popular use are hardly regulated. The short-term rental market for tourists has been fundamentally changed by platforms likes Airbnb. This study uses a novel dataset of properties available for rent in Malta during May 2019, and attempts to determine the composition, ownership, utilisation and possible revenue generation potential of these listings. This study finds the number of listings to be similar to other mid-sized pop- ulation centres in the Mediterranean. It discusses the distribution of the housing stock devoted to short-term rentals and looks at some metrics for pricing, including the pricing of characteristics, and considers the existence of spatially interdependent pricing decisions. JEL classification: Z3, Z31, R31, L83.