Investing in tourist apartments: Complete guide [2025]
According to data from Fotocasa, 3% of buyers want to invest in properties to rent. But not for traditional rental, but for tourism. Furthermore, according to data from the same portal, 2 out of 10 owners allocate their apartments to the temporary rental sector.
These data only confirm that the tourism sector in Spain is becoming increasingly stronger. Therefore, investing in tourist apartments is an alternative that seduces large and small owners.
To give you an idea, In 2024, Spain will receive 93.1 million international visitors. This number far exceeds the more than 85 million who visited us in 2023. In addition, the new housing law is another factor that drives owners to seek to invest in tourist apartments.
But how to invest in tourist apartments to rent?
This will depend on several factors, starting with whether you want to invest in houses for rent or in tourist rental apartments. In any case, in this article we are going to give you all the necessary information.
Keep reading and take notes.
How to invest in tourist apartments: Step-by-step guide
Investing in properties to rent is one of the best alternatives to make money. Last year, a report by Five Days, described the investment in apartments for temporary rental as “haven investment”. This definition is due, among other things, to the attractive profitability of up to 7% per year that tourist rentals offer.
For this reason, it is key that you learn how to invest in tourist apartments. To help you, we have created this step-by-step guide:
Step 1. Have your objectives clear
Before jumping into the water, the first thing you should do is have clear objectives. Take your time and answer these questions:
Defining your objectives well will help you draw up an efficient plan to achieve them. In addition, it also helps you realize if real estate investment in Spain is appropriate for the returns you are looking for.
Step 2. Know the regulations
In Spain, the regulation of tourist rentals is a key factor that you should know before investing. The regulations are different in each city and more and more municipalities have their own rules. Therefore, we recommend that you have details of the regulations in the area where you plan to invest.
Otherwise, you may have problems trying to make your temporary rental profitable.
In addition, you must keep in mind that the rules of tourist rentals in Spain are very changing. Therefore, planning for more than 5 years is complex, especially when you yourself you manage the vacation rental.
Step 3. Do a market study
Where to invest in apartments to rent? This is one of the questions that should be in your head and it is very important to answer. To be certain, the first thing you should do is a market study.
This study must include:
Demand. The profitability of tourist rentals depends on the occupancy rate, so you must know in which region there is the most demand. To make the research based on hard data, for example, you can go to the INE database where you can see the number of international tourists and other data of interest.
Seasonality. This is another factor to take into account to know where to invest in tourist apartments. For example, if you have or buy an apartment in the Balearic Islands, you know that summer is where you will have the highest occupancy. On the other hand, if you are going to invest in real estate in Madrid, you know that seasonality will not affect you as much.
Competence. There is more and more competition, according to Exceltur dataIn 2024, more than 55,000 tourist apartments will be added to the offer in Spain. Therefore, you should know the areas where there is not so much saturation, since the prices per night tend to be lower.
In general, investors look for places that have high demand, that are not affected as much by seasonality and where they can compete. Some interesting places are Malaga, Barcelona and the profitability of tourist rentals in Madrid It is also an attractive factor.
After you've done your research, the next step is...
Step 4. Start searching for your property
We know that it is not easy to find a property in the best place to invest in tourist apartments. And the reasons are many, you are not from the area, it is your first time buying real estate or you do not know the real estate market very well. Therefore, in this step it is important that you have professional support.
In Dobo Homes We can be that support for you. If you want to invest in properties for tourist rental, we we go to help. We offer a service that includes everything from the purchase of the property to its management and maintenance. This way, you don't have to worry about anything, just receiving your profits.
Once you have the property, it is time to analyze its potential.
Step 5. Know the profitability of the tourist apartment
Investing in tourist apartments is like any other business, it can go very well or it can go very badly. But, fortunately, in the hospitality industry, several indicators have been developed that can tell you the expected profitability of an apartment.
Those indicators are:
ADR (Average Daily Rate). Average nightly rate a guest pays for a reservation. It is calculated by dividing total revenue by the number of nights sold.
ALoS (Average Length of Stay). Average length of stay of guests. It is obtained by dividing the total number of occupied nights by the number of reservations.
Occupancy rate. Percentage of nights reserved in relation to available nights. It is calculated by dividing the occupied nights by the total nights for the period and multiplying by 100.
Operating expenses. Property operating costs, such as maintenance, cleaning, supplies, taxes and platform commissions.
Capitalization rate. Property profitability based on its annual net income and its market value. It is calculated by dividing the net income by the value of the property and multiplying by 100.
If you consider that the profitability is good and is in line with the investment objectives you have set, you only have to make an offer for the apartment.
How to get the most out of your investment in tourist apartments?
To get better performance, you should focus on promoting your property. Remember that profitability will depend on the number of nights the apartment is occupied. Guaranteeing this is not easy, which is why many owners look for a vacation rental management company to take care of it.
Services include:
Property promotions
Guarantee of a high occupancy rate
Maintenance and cleaning
Customer management (check-ins and check-out)
Profitability analysis
Reports and evaluations about your investment
All this and more we offer you in Dobo Homes so that you only have to put your capital to produce.
If you want to invest in tourist apartments and do it well, do not hesitate to get in touch with us.