The Spatial Dimension of Airbnb Pricing in Athens, Greece: Implications for Urban Tourism Policy

This study examines how the physical characteristics and location of Airbnb listings shape prices across the Municipality of Athens, and what the resulting patterns mean for urban tourism governance. Using 11,999 listings from 2025 together with complementary spatial and urban data, the analysis combines a listing-level Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model, Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) calibrated on a 100 m hexagonal grid, and K-means clustering to examine Airbnb pricing at both city-wide and neighborhood scales. The study groups areas of the Municipality of Athens that share similar patterns in the way Airbnb price determinants operate, providing a more structured, exploratory interpretation of intra-urban heterogeneity. By clustering the local coefficients, the study moves beyond coefficient mapping to identify spatial pricing profiles, and relates them to the geography of recent STR regulation. The results show that proximity to cultural landmarks, accommodation characteristics, and premium amenities (hot tub availability) are the principal sources of price differentiation, while transport accessibility has a spatially differentiated effect within Athens’s well-connected center. Five exploratory spatial pricing profiles emerge from the analysis, reflecting differences in the strength and direction of these relationships across neighborhoods. This combined analytical approach helps translate local model results into spatially explicit patterns that can inform place-sensitive approaches to urban tourism governance.