Puglia vs Sicily: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Puglia and Sicily score similarly on the metrics that matter most for short-term rental returns. The right pick depends on whether you optimise for yield (lower regulation risk, higher RevPAR) or capital growth.

Head-to-head metrics

	Puglia	Sicily
Median occupancy	6.6%	8.2%
Median daily rate	£100	£97
Median RevPAR	£8	£10
Active listings	24,702	30,526
YoY occupancy	+0 pts	+0 pts
YoY daily rate	+38.2%	+41.4%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Puglia vs Sicily

There is no clean winner between Puglia and Sicily. Puglia posts 6.6% occupancy and £8 RevPAR; Sicily posts 8.2% occupancy and £10 RevPAR. Weighted together with regulation risk the two finish inside the margin we are willing to call, which is the honest answer rather than an evasive one — a scoring gap this small would flip on the next data refresh. When markets are this close the decision stops being about the market and starts being about the deal: what you pay, what it costs to run, and how quickly you could exit.

On the mechanics of the yield the two are hard to separate. Puglia runs 6.6% occupancy at £100 a night; Sicily runs 8.2% at £97. That leaves RevPAR almost level too — £10 against £8 — so operating quality, not market selection, is what will decide your return between these two.

A tie does not mean the two are interchangeable — it means each holds something the other does not. Its strongest submarket, San Marzano di San Giuseppe, clears £31 RevPAR on its own — city medians hide that kind of spread. Across a full year the median Sicily listing grosses £3,580 against £2,841 in Puglia. Pick the one whose advantage matches how you intend to operate, because the composite score will not do that job for you.

Neither Puglia nor Sicily currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Puglia peaks in August at 49.3% and bottoms in November at 39.3%; Sicily runs from 43.5% in September down to 28.9% in November. Puglia is the steadier of the two at 10 points peak-to-trough against 14.6 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Sicily concentrates its return into a shorter window and rewards operators who price the peak aggressively instead of holding a flat rate all year.

Who each suits, then. Puglia suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. Sicily answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2026-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 24,702 active Puglia listings and 30,526 in Sicily.

Frequently asked questions

Is Puglia or Sicily better for Airbnb investment?

Neither pulls clearly ahead. Puglia runs 6.6% occupancy and £100 a night; Sicily runs 8.2% occupancy and £97 a night. Once occupancy, revenue per available night and regulation risk are weighted together the two finish within a couple of points of each other, so the decision turns on purchase price, how far you are willing to travel, and which rulebook you would rather work under.

Which has higher occupancy, Puglia or Sicily?

Sicily, at 8.2% median occupancy against 6.6% in Puglia — a gap of 1.6 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Puglia can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Puglia was flat and Sicily was flat, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Puglia or Sicily?

Puglia, at £100 a night against £97 in Sicily — roughly 2.6% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — Sicily comes out ahead at £10 against £8, so Sicily's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Puglia or Sicily?

Puglia, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against +0 points in Sicily. Nightly rates rose 38.2% in Puglia and rose 41.4% in Sicily over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Puglia or Sicily?

Sicily, with 30,526 active listings against 24,702 in Puglia. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Puglia vs Sicily?

Sicily earns more: roughly £3,580 a year for a median listing against £2,841 in Puglia. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Puglia →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Sicily →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Ready to buy?

Get a full investment report on either city

Property-level financials, stress tests, and an AI verdict — £19 each.

Puglia report →Sicily report →

From the same team

Already hosting? Meet HostPal

An AI concierge that answers your guests on WhatsApp 24/7 — in 50+ languages, from your own guidebook and house rules. Emergencies get escalated to you; the WiFi password doesn't. Live in under 10 minutes.

Try HostPal free for 7 days →