The topic examined how STR data gaps and fragmentation are being addressed through strengthened regulatory and data‑sharing frameworks, involving destinations, public authorities, and digital platforms across governance levels. Drawing on the monthly article “Rethinking Rentals: How the EU Is Addressing Data Gaps in Tourism”, the webinar “The benefits of data‑sharing from regulated short‑term rentals”, and the online discussion “Harmonising Data Sharing for Short‑Term Rentals: Best Practices and Benefits” in March 2025, the focus was on the implementation of harmonised registration and data‑sharing requirements, the benefits of data‑driven policymaking, and the role of cooperation between platforms and public authorities.

Key themes included:

• The introduction of harmonised registration and data‑sharing obligations for short‑term rental platforms and hosts under Regulation (EU) 2024/1028
• The benefits of consistent, comparable STR data for tourism planning, housing policy, and enforcement activities 
• Best practices and challenges related to implementing data‑sharing systems across different governance levels and destinations

The initiatives showcased demonstrate how different actors are putting regulatory measures, tools, and collaborative approaches in place to enable harmonised data sharing for STRs, including:

• eVisitor system, Croatian National Tourist Board: enabling real‑time guest registration and tourist tax management to support enforcement and destination decision‑making.
• National tourism registry for short‑term rentals, Turismo de Portugal: centralising registration and data sharing through a single digital entry point to improve transparency and compliance.
• Monitoring system against illegal short‑term rentals, Ibiza Island Council:
  Detecting non‑compliant listings through data analysis and supporting targeted enforcement in cooperation with platforms.
• Single Digital Entry Point Prototype, Booking.com: Facilitating automated platform‑to‑authority data transmission in line with the EU short‑term rental regulation.
• Registration and data advocacy, European Holiday Home Association (EHHA): a practice by EHHA Promoting evidence‑based and proportionate regulation through harmonized registration and data use.

Stakeholder stories highlight the central role of data sharing in improving the governance of short‑term rentals across the EU.

Key conclusions and emerging trends include:

• National registration systems are emerging as the backbone of STR governance, showing that reliable oversight depends on mandatory registration combined with continuous data updates rather than ad‑hoc reporting.
• Authorities are increasingly using shared STR data for targeted enforcement, moving from reactive controls to proactive identification of illegal rentals and non‑compliant listings through monitoring and analytics tools.
• Platform–authority cooperation is becoming more technical and structured, with automated data flows and shared interfaces gradually replacing bilateral and manual reporting arrangements.
• STR data is no longer used only for tourism statistics, but increasingly feeds into housing oversight, territorial planning, and management of tourism pressure at destination level.
• Evidence‑based and proportionate regulation is gaining ground, as stakeholders emphasize the use of data to assess real impacts and avoid blanket measures that do not reflect local conditions.