Short, mid or long stay in Genoa: which option is most profitable in 2026

Genoa’s real estate market in 2026: growth that changes seasonality

To understand which rental formula makes sense today for a Genoa property owner, we need to start with a figure that is reshaping Liguria’s tourism calendar. In 2025, Liguria closed with almost 21 million visits, over one million more than in 2024. The President of the Region, Marco Bucci, speaking at the Portofino Conversation in Rapallo, stated that the most recent data on residents, GDP and employment confirm a Liguria “in a phase of development and strengthening of regional competitiveness”. Back in March 2025, he had described a region “growing across all parameters: GDP, employment, investments and even resident population”. The regional Tourism Assessor, Luca Lombardi, highlighted a decisive aspect for those managing properties: analyzing 2025 data reveals how the so-called “shoulder” months have driven the traditional holiday periods, with May and October among the months that led the growth in tourist visits.

The trend has not stopped: the almost 500,000 additional visits recorded in 5 months compared to 2025 signal the region’s growth, with an overall increase that by the end of July 2026 approaches +8.85%. Even December 2025 alone had confirmed the trend, with an increase in visits compared to the same month in 2024.

Genoa as a city follows the same trajectory. In 2025 the Ligurian capital continued to register growth in visits compared to 2024, while in June 2025, according to data from the Regional Tourism Observatory, the province of Genoa marked a growth in visits of +6.79% compared to the same month in the previous year — the best performance among Ligurian provinces in that month, in a regional context that marked an overall +6.3% in visits. Looking at the entire 2025, the municipal Tourism Department reported provisional growth of several percentage points, suggesting a further increase in the number of visits for Genoa alone.

Why does this figure matter for those evaluating short, mid or long-term stays? Because growth concentrated in intermediate months means demand no longer exhausts itself in the three summer months: it distributes throughout the year, and this changes the cost-benefit calculation between different rental formulas.

Short, mid and long-term stays: three markets with different dynamics

The market for pure short-term rentals (under 30 days) in Genoa remains the most crowded and competitive segment, with several thousand active listings in the city, an average occupancy rate of around 57-66% and an average daily rate just over 100 euros per night. These figures indicate a solid but already mature market, where standing out requires professional management, dynamic pricing and multi-channel presence.

Alongside short-term rentals, an intermediate segment is consolidating, the so-called transitional rentals: contracts from 30 days to 18 months, designed for business travelers, out-of-town students, mobile professionals. Here the data analyzed by Immobiliare.it Insights provide a very clear picture: in Genoa the cost for a transitional rental stands at 12.2 euros per square meter in 2026, a value that keeps the city well below the national average (18.2 euros/sqm). The most interesting detail concerns supply and demand dynamics: a contracting supply (-9%) facing growing demand (+7%), it is no surprise that prices register that +2% which keeps the short-term rental market in the Ligurian capital dynamic, yet still accessible.

Since 2021 the rental market has registered significant price increases, and in this context the transitional rental segment is showing the most marked growth, according to analyses by Immobiliare.it Insights.

This means that the intermediate segment, often overlooked by owners who think only in terms of “short vs long”, is gaining ground precisely because it intercepts less seasonal and more stable demand: those relocating for work, those attending a master’s program, those needing temporary accommodation during renovations or a move.

The digital nomad and relocation trend: what the numbers say

The editorial note that inspired this in-depth analysis concerns a relatively new phenomenon for the Genoa market: stays exceeding 30 days linked to digital nomadism and relocation. The Italian regulatory framework has moved in this direction: the Digital Nomad Visa now requires a minimum annual income of around 28,000 euros, equivalent to about 2,333 euros per month, and is reserved — as clarified by various guides updated to 2026 — for “highly qualified” workers, who must demonstrate their professional competence through educational qualifications or significant work experience. Among the requirements for obtaining the visa is also documentation confirming housing arrangements in Italy: a detail that makes transitional and mid-term rental operators a natural contact for those arriving from abroad.

It should be noted that for European citizens the matter is simpler: EU citizens do not need a digital nomad visa to live or work in Italy, but are still required to declare their residence with their municipal office and comply with administrative and tax obligations once in Italy. On the tax front, those who relocate can also benefit, under certain conditions, from the Repatriated Persons regime.

On the supply side, mid-term specialized platforms such as Spotahome and Blueground represent today’s international reference channel for those seeking “ready-to-use” furnished solutions for periods from one to several months: Blueground describes its solutions as beautifully furnished and well-equipped apartments for a month, a year or more, while Spotahome defines itself as specializing in medium-term rentals, from 1 to 11 months or more. However, it should be honestly noted to Genoa property owners that, at present, the operational presence of these marketplaces in Italy is still limited to a few locations, while there does not appear to be equivalent structured offerings on Genoa. This means that, for now, the Genoa mid-term channel passes more easily through general portals (Idealista, Immobiliare.it) and local property management networks, with interesting growth potential for those positioning themselves first.

Taxes and compliance: what changes from 2026

Whatever formula you choose, 2026 brings a tax change that must be understood well before deciding how many properties to allocate to short-term rentals. The 2026 Budget Law introduced a system of progressive rates: 21% for the real estate unit identified by the taxpayer, 26% for a further unit, 30% for the third and fourth unit. Even more significant for those owning more than two apartments: from January 1, 2026 it is mandatory to open a VAT identification number starting from the third property leased for tourist purposes, as an exercise of a business activity is presumed.

For those exceeding this threshold there is an alternative to evaluate with a tax consultant: the flat-rate regime, with annual revenues not exceeding 85,000 euros, which applies a substitute rate of 15% (reduced to 5% for the first five years) on a taxable base equal to 40% of revenues.

On the administrative requirements front, Liguria has a specific feature compared to other regions: here the regional code equivalent to CIR is called CITRA (Codice identificativo Turistico regionale per gli Appartamenti ammobiliati) for short-term rentals, and CITR for other accommodation facilities. As for the national CIN, the region has accumulated a significant delay: by the end of 2024, in Liguria 44% of short-term rental properties still lacked the mandatory CIN code, while in Genoa the percentage of non-compliant properties was 38%. Those wishing to list on international mid-term marketplaces will need to be even more precise on this front, because EU Regulation 2024/1028 on short-term rental transparency is fully in force from May 20, 2026 and imposes increasingly strict verification and data transmission obligations on digital platforms.

Which formula to choose? Practical implications for property owners

Putting these elements together, the picture that emerges for a Genoese property owner is not “one formula wins over the others,” but rather a logic of seasonal combination. Short stay remains the segment with the highest rates and greater nightly profitability, but it is also the most crowded: with several thousand active listings in the city and an average occupancy rate around 57-66%, profitability increasingly depends on management quality, dynamic pricing and offer differentiation.

Mid stay (temporary contracts from 30 days to 18 months) offers a different profile: lower per-square-meter prices compared to the national average, but growing demand and contracting supply, conditions that generally favor those entering the market with a well-positioned property. It is the formula best suited to cover low season months, when leisure demand decreases but flows of business travelers, students and, in perspective, relocation professionals remain active.

Traditional long stay, finally, remains the simplest choice on a fiscal and management level, but it is also the one with the most limited potential yield compared to the other two formulas, especially in a city like Genoa where tourist demand is growing faster than the national average in many periods of the year.

For owners managing more than one property, the new tiered fiscal structure (21%-26%-30%) and the two-unit threshold for flat-rate taxation make careful planning even more important: the choice of which property to allocate to which regime, and which length-of-stay formula to apply to each, can make a concrete difference to the net income at year’s end. Those wishing to explore how to set up this strategy on a portfolio of multiple apartments in the historic center can consult our portfolio of properties in the historic center to get an idea of the types of properties most in demand in the city today.

In a market growing steadily throughout the year — not just in summer — the real expertise required of Genoese property owners in 2026 is not to choose one formula forever, but to know how to alternate short, mid and long stay based on season, neighborhood and property type. It is an exercise that requires updated data, attention to compliance and adaptation skills: if you want to evaluate the professional management of your property together with an expert advisor, comparing real numbers remains the best starting point.