The council approves the new bill: blocking powers for municipalities, numerical caps, and SCIA (Italian Civil Aviation Authority) requirements. Here's how the tourist and non-hotel rental market is changing in Puglia and what it means for hotel management.
What does the short-term rental reform in Puglia entail? The Puglia Region has approved a bill allowing individual municipalities to set numerical limits (maximum caps) and restrictive criteria for new tourist rental businesses in high-density areas. Above two apartments, the presumption of entrepreneurial activity is triggered, requiring a SCIA (Certificate of Conduct for the Protection of Property) at the SUAP (Supply for the Protection of Property). Existing businesses will be protected through a transitional regime.
The Boom in Tourist Rentals in Puglia: Data on the Phenomenon
Topics index
In recent years, the phenomenon of short-term rentals in Puglia has seen exponential growth, driven by the widespread presence of digital booking platforms. According to official data from the Region, there are currently 1,000 active booking platforms in Puglia. 44.883 properties intended for tourist rentals.
The impact on the market of flows in the last calendar year has been disruptive:
Tourist arrivals: The extra-hotel formula has covered the 18,7 % of total arrivals (recording a leap of + 27,7 % compared to the previous year).
Total attendance: Short-term rentals have had an impact on the 17,1 % on the total number of nights spent in the region (growth of + 24,8 % on an annual basis).
While on the one hand this expansion has injected immediate liquidity into the local economic sector, on the other it has overheated the real estate market, drastically reducing the supply of apartments intended for permanent residence and altering the soul of the historic centres of iconic destinations such as Bari, Lecce, Monopoli and the villages of the Itria Valley.
What the new bill provides: Blocking powers for municipalities
The regulatory response of the regional council focuses on the decentralisation of control powers, contained in theArticle 2 of the new bill. The provision is not intended as a blanket ban, but rather as a regulatory "toolbox" granted to local administrations.
The Apulian municipalities will now have the legal power to:
Mapping the municipal territory identifying specific critical areas or areas saturated by the presence of platform accommodation.
Define specific qualitative and quantitative criteria for the start of activities.
Introduce maximum numerical caps to block the issuing of new non-hotel permits in areas affected by housing emergencies or urban saturation.
The transitional regime and the protection of existing business
To avoid disputes and not penalise investments already made, the text of the law provides for a transitional regimeThe new restrictions and municipal limits will apply exclusively to new openings, protecting property managers and owners of holiday homes duly registered and operating on the market before the entry into force.
The new regional legislation in Puglia does not change the pillars of administrative compliance, but tightens the digital and statistical controls:
Threshold of 2 apartments: The cardinal principle according to which the tourist rental activity is presumed to be carried out in entrepreneurial form when they are destined for the short-term rental market more than two apartments.
SCIA and SUAP obligation: For business management there is a strict obligation to present the Certified Report of Start of Activity (SCIA) at the One-Stop Shop for Productive Activities (SUAP) of the relevant Municipality, including mandatory communications for changes, suspensions, or cessation of activity.
Non-business obligations: Anyone who manages up to two apartments (non-entrepreneurial form) remains subject to the obligations of communication towards the competent bodies and to the electronic transmission of data relating to the statistical survey of tourist flows (Puglia_Promotion / ROSS 1000).
Countering Overtourism to Promote the Hotel Industry
The legislative intervention, supported by the President of the Puglia Region Antonio DeCaro, aims to manage growth that in some areas has reached unsustainable levels.
"We want municipalities to be able to manage the phenomenon of overtourism by equipping themselves with tools to regulate the opening of new accommodations on platforms based on their own development and their territory.", Decaro declared.
Opportunities for Hotel Management and Internal Areas
This reform represents an important opportunity for competitive rebalancing:
Reviving the traditional hotel sector: Blocking new "unauthorized" non-hotel accommodation openings reduces downward pressure on prices (price dumping) and rewards official accommodation facilities that incur fixed costs related to staffing, security, and high service standards.
Deseasonalization and valorization of small municipalities: Curbing the expansion in the main historic centers will allow us to divert the interest of tourist flows and investors towards the hinterland, the internal areas and the small municipalities of Puglia, which still have ample room for development in the hospitality sector.
To monitor the bureaucratic progress of the measure and consult the full text of the bill, you can refer to the official note published on Institutional Portal of the Puglia Region
Don't miss the next tourism scenarios. Join the community of Direzione Hotel: Subscribe to our free newsletter to receive exclusive analysis, market data, and practical advice to grow your hotel.
