Greece has launched a new partnership with Airbnb to provide free accommodation for doctors and nurses working on five Aegean islands this summer. The pilot program, announced by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, aims to ease a persistent housing shortage that has made it difficult for medical staff to work in popular tourist destinations during peak season.
Georgiadis met with Olympia Christofilea, deputy governor of the 2nd Health Region of Piraeus and the Aegean, and Nikos Alexiou, Airbnb’s public policy officer, to formally announce the agreement. The program runs through Airbnb.org, the company’s nonprofit arm created to provide emergency housing during times of crisis.
Under the deal, doctors and nurses staffing public hospitals and clinics will receive free lodging from late July through the end of September. The islands included are Santorini, Paros, Ios, Rhodes and Tinos, all popular summer destinations where housing costs typically spike during tourist season.
Airbnb extends free accommodation to Greece’s national health system
The initiative expands Airbnb.org’s existing medical stays program, which already provides free housing to patients and families traveling for treatment in 10 countries.
It marks one of the first times Airbnb has extended free accommodation to a national health system in Greece. The Health Ministry will select which doctors and nurses receive the housing.
Georgiadis said that staffing public health facilities on the islands is one of the ministry’s top priorities. He said that many doctors and nurses have struggled to find housing during the summer, which often stops them from choosing to work on the islands.
He said that the new partnership offers a direct and practical solution to that problem, and thanked European Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas for helping coordinate the effort at the European level.
Airbnb.org’s track record in global emergency housing support
Christoph Gorder, executive director of Airbnb.org, said that the partnership helps address staffing shortages in local health facilities by giving medical workers free housing close to their jobs. He said that it removes a barrier to healthcare access, allowing more people to get treatment when they need it most.
Airbnb.org has provided 1.6 million free nights of housing in nearly 140 countries since 2020, covering people affected by natural disasters, armed conflicts, and other emergencies. Airbnb funds all of the nonprofit’s operating costs, so every donation goes directly toward housing those in need.
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