A short-term rental occupancy rate is calculated like this: booked nights ÷ available nights × 100. A studio booked 18 nights out of 30 shows 60%. The formula fits on one line, but the result depends entirely on how you define “available nights” — and that is where most owners get it wrong, or get misled. Here is the exact method, the trap to avoid, and real 2026 benchmarks for Tunisia.
The formula in one line (with an example)
Occupancy rate measures the percentage of nights actually booked against the nights you offered for booking over a given period.
Occupancy rate (%) = (booked nights ÷ available nights) × 100
| Case | Available nights | Booked nights | Occupancy rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lac studio, June | 30 | 18 | 60% |
| Hammamet villa, August | 31 | 28 | 90% |
| La Marsa apartment, December | 31 | 9 | 29% |
It is a percentage, not revenue. Two properties at 60% do not earn the same if one rents at 90 TND a night and the other at 300 TND. Hold on to that distinction — we return to it below, because it is the mistake that costs the most.
The real trap: what counts as an “available night”?
All the ambiguity in an occupancy rate lives in the denominator. Three ways of counting “available nights” produce three very different numbers for the same property:
- Calendar nights: every night in the period (30 for a full month). The most honest baseline.
- Nights open for booking: only the nights you have not blocked. Close the calendar for 10 personal days and your denominator drops to 20.
- “Theoretically rentable” nights: some also strip out structurally slow nights (weekdays off-season), which inflates the rate artificially.
The problem: the more nights you block, the higher your occupancy rate climbs — without a single extra guest booking. A careless property manager can advertise “85% occupancy” simply by closing the calendar on low-demand days. The figure is true; the impression it gives is false.
The Landlord rule: to steer a property, always calculate on calendar nights (the full period), and track blocked nights separately. It is the only way to compare two months, two seasons or two properties without kidding yourself.
Calendar occupancy vs “market” occupancy
Data platforms (AirROI, Airbtics) publish a so-called “market” occupancy: they estimate booked nights across all the nights a property was listed, at city scale. Useful for positioning yourself, but with two limits:
- They cannot see your personal blocks or your off-platform direct bookings (word of mouth, returning guests, WhatsApp reservations).
- A city average flattens huge gaps between a well-run studio and a poorly positioned villa.
Use market figures as a benchmark, never as a target. Your real reference is your own month-by-month history.
Why aiming for 100% is a bad idea
A property at 100% occupancy is almost always a property that is priced too low. If you never turn a night away, your price is leaving money on the table. The metric that reconciles price and fill rate is RevPAR (revenue per available night):
RevPAR = ADR × occupancy rate, where ADR is the average price per booked night.
| Property | ADR (price/night) | Occupancy | RevPAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| A — underpriced | 90 TND | 90% | 81 TND |
| B — well priced | 150 TND | 65% | 97.5 TND |
Property B is less full but earns 20% more per available night, with fewer turnovers, less cleaning and less wear. As AirROI, a short-term rental data platform, puts it, RevPAR “factors in both price and occupancy” — that is what you optimize, not occupancy alone. A good manager looks for the balance point between the two, not a full calendar.
2026 occupancy benchmarks in Tunisia
Here are the orders of magnitude observed in Tunisia’s short-term rental market in 2026 (AirROI and Airbtics data, market occupancy — read them as benchmarks, not targets). ADRs are published in dollars by those platforms; we leave them as such rather than apply a conversion that would age badly. Note also the last row: it covers every ranked Tunisian market, secondary low-occupancy towns included, so it is not the average of the four rows above.
| Market | Average occupancy | Average price/night (ADR) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tunis (median) | ~52% | ~$42 | High volume, low rates |
| Sousse | ~44% | ~$62 | Coastal market |
| Djerba (Midoun) | ~42% | ~$112 | Strong seasonality |
| Hammamet | ~35% | ~$127 | High ADR, low occupancy |
| Ranked-market average | ~33% | ~$105 | National order of magnitude |
Two takeaways. First, average occupancy in Tunisia stays modest — roughly 35% to 50% in the main markets, lower elsewhere: that is structural, driven by strong seasonality. Second, high-ADR cities (Hammamet, Djerba) often show lower occupancy — which is fine, as long as RevPAR keeps up. Seasonality drives everything: high season (April-October) can top 80%, the shoulder months (March, November) sit around 50-70%, and the winter trough (December-February) often falls below 40%.
Calculate yours, step by step
- Pick the period. A month to steer, a rolling year to judge real performance. An annual rate smooths out the peaks and reveals the true trend.
- Count calendar nights in the period (28 to 31 per month, 365 per year).
- Count booked nights, from every source: platforms AND direct bookings. Ignoring direct throws everything off.
- Apply the formula: booked ÷ calendar × 100.
- Log blocked nights separately (personal use, works). You now have two figures: “gross” occupancy and occupancy “net of blocks.”
- Add ADR and RevPAR to give the percentage meaning.
| Metric | Formula | What it reveals |
|---|---|---|
| Occupancy | booked ÷ available × 100 | Fill rate |
| ADR | accommodation revenue ÷ booked nights | Price positioning |
| RevPAR | ADR × occupancy | Real performance |
A spreadsheet is enough. One column per month, three rows (occupancy, ADR, RevPAR), and you steer better than 90% of owners.
How to read and improve your rate
A low rate has no single cause. Before slashing prices, isolate the real problem:
- Low occupancy + high ADR: your price may be above market in slow periods. Test seasonal dynamic pricing instead of a flat rate.
- Low occupancy + low ADR: the problem is not price, it is visibility or the listing itself (photos, title, reviews, response time).
- High occupancy + weak RevPAR: you are too cheap. Raise rates on demand peaks (summer, holidays, Eid, long weekends).
- Recurring gaps at 7 days out: these are the hardest nights to sell. A targeted last-minute cut beats an empty night — but only on those slots, not across the whole calendar.
The levers that actually move the needle: professional photos, a short response time, seasonal pricing, a sensible minimum stay (2 nights at The Landlord), and a multi-channel presence (Airbnb, Booking, direct site) so you depend on no single platform. That is exactly what a concierge does. On properties we take over, the gap between a calendar managed daily and one left on autopilot is clear across a year — all the more so when the starting point was low.
FAQ
What is a good occupancy rate for a short-term rental in Tunisia?
There is no universal figure. In Tunisia’s 2026 market, the average sits between 35% and 50% in the main markets, with summer peaks above 80%. A well-run property aims mainly for a solid RevPAR, not a precise percentage.
Should I include the nights I block for myself?
For honest steering, calculate on full calendar nights and track your blocks separately. Removing blocked nights inflates the rate without improving revenue.
Occupancy or RevPAR: which should I watch first?
RevPAR. It combines price and fill rate. High occupancy achieved by discounting can hide mediocre profitability.
How do I find my city’s average occupancy?
STR data platforms (AirROI, Airbtics) publish city-level estimates. Use them as a benchmark, remembering that an average hides wide gaps between properties.
Is a 100% rate a good sign?
Rarely. A permanently full calendar usually signals a price that is too low. Raise rates gradually on high-demand periods and watch the effect on RevPAR.
Do direct bookings count in the calculation?
Yes, absolutely. Every night sold counts, whatever the source. Counting only platforms understates your real occupancy and distorts your decisions.
In short
An occupancy rate takes one line to calculate, but it is only as good as the rigor of its denominator: count on calendar nights, include direct bookings, and always read the figure alongside ADR and RevPAR. That combination drives profitability — not a full calendar. To position your property against the market, see our guide to Airbnb profitability in Tunisia, and if you would rather delegate price-and-occupancy management, explore our concierge service or the owners’ area. And to work out whether delegating pays in your case, compare the numbers in our property management vs self-managing analysis.
