It’s no real surprise that the holiday property renting hot spot so far this year is Germany.

The 'World Cup Effect' meant Germany has been the top performer for rentals in the first half of 2006 but statistics from holiday home rental firm, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk reveal both where property owners are looking to let and also where holiday makers are looking to rent.

Dubai was hot on Germany's heels, with an average number of enquiries per property double the site average, says the report from Holiday-Rentals.co.uk. Perennial favourite, Tenerife remained popular, with a healthy 20% rise in the average number of enquiries per property per month compared to 2005. Renter interest in Italy was up 13.2%, backing up recent reports that the country is growing in popularity, particularly its cities, with enquiries in both the Rome and Venice areas up around 25% on last year. Other regions that performed particularly well were Sicily (up 30.9%), Lombardy (up 28.5%), Campania (23.6%), Tuscany and Marche (up 10.4%).

Growth in holiday home ownership

Top 10 growth in holiday home renting
Montenegro	88.8 %
Slovenia	62.5%
Morocco	61%
Croatia	30.3%
Turkey	27.9%
Dubai	27%
Czech Republic	26.9%
South Africa	22.8%
France	22.7%
Malta	22%
Source: Holiday-Rentals.co.uk

Property owners become advertisers for a number of reasons: they may be investors, locals cashing in on tourists, or private owners looking for ways to make their second home pay its bills. In any case, trends, public opinion and economic factors all have a part to play.

With so much news over the past couple of years devoted to cheap property prices and relaxed property laws in some of the new EU Member States Holiday-Rentals’ top 10 is not surprising. Interestingly, although Bulgaria didn't make it onto the list this time, it showed huge growth in the latter half of 2005 and the firm expects it to surge again as ski properties prepare for winter.

Trendy exotics - like Morocco & Dubai demonstrate how intrepid holiday homeowners can be whilst they search out the next hot spots.

Surprisingly, France, a giant in the industry showed very respectable growth - beating out other old favourites: Spain, Italy, and Portugal. Could this be a sign of its enduring popularity or possibly a reflection of the fact that more owners are getting savvy to the fact that they can turn their unused second home into a cash cow!

Another recent survey from the company revealed that October was the favourite month for city breaks with 40% of planned breaks that month. City breaks are one of the latest frontiers for holiday rentals - but with travellers rating décor and furnishing (97%), and food preparation facilities (69%) as important, Holiday-Rentals see this as a niche where property owners can compete with hotels. Favourite destinations in their survey were Barcelona and Rome, with Paris, Krakow, Lisbon, Prague and Amsterdam hot on the heels.