July the 29th, 2026 – Airbnb no longer has any advantages or particular benefits over Booking.com for Croatian hosts after the company announced significant changes recently.
As Ana Roksandic reports for Poslovni, Croatian private accommodation hosts are facing a significant changes after Airbnb announced a new commission model that many say removes one of its biggest advantages over Booking.com. Under that company’s new system, Airbnb will no longer charge guests a separate service fee. Instead, hosts will pay a 15.5% commission, replacing the previous model in which hosts paid around 3% while guests covered most of the platform’s fee.
According to Vedran Tomić, president of the Save Small Family Renters Association (SMOi), the change has been met with negative reactions from Croatian hosts. He said Airbnb’s biggest advantage had been its lower direct cost for hosts, but that will now disappear. He also pointed out that Croatian hosts must pay VAT on the commission, meaning they will now pay VAT on the full 15.5% fee instead of just the previous 3% commission.
one last summer of airbnb advantage for croatian hosts…
The new commission structure will apply as of the 13th of October. Airbnb says the change responds to feedback from hosts who found the previous pricing model confusing because guests saw an additional service fee added to the advertised accommodation price. Under the new model, guests will simply see the final price, while the commission is deducted from the host’s payout.
The changes come as Croatia’s short-term rental market is already evolving. Data from analytics platform AirDNA shows that the number of active listings has fallen in the country’s largest cities. In Split, active listings dropped from around 10,300 in June 2025 to 8,906 in June 2026, a decline of 13.5%. Zagreb recorded an even steeper fall of 25%, with analysts linking the decline to more property owners switching to long-term rentals. The market is increasingly favouring larger and more professional operators, while less profitable listings are leaving the sector.
Tomić believes the commission change is unlikely to reduce demand from travellers, but it could weaken Airbnb’s position in Croatia because it no longer offers hosts a financial advantage over Booking.com. He estimates that Booking.com controls around 70% of the Croatian market, while Airbnb accounts for roughly 20%, with the remaining 10% shared by other booking platforms.
accommodation competitiveness isn’t even the biggest issue for croatian tourism
Damir Krešić, director of Croatia’s Institute for Tourism, said higher commissions are not good news for the sector, but argued that accommodation is not the biggest competitiveness issue facing Croatian tourism. In his view, greater concerns are the rising costs of food, drinks and transport services, where Croatia has become less competitive.
Krešić also encouraged private hosts not to rely on a single booking platform. He said global platforms have given small Croatian hosts access to guests worldwide, but becoming too dependent on one intermediary weakens their bargaining position. Instead, he recommends that hosts advertise across two or three platforms to diversify their bookings and reduce risk.
