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Short-term rentals in Orkney

Orkney is the 550th-largest of 597 short-term rental markets across the United Kingdom: 274 listings, 70% on Airbnb. 6% of supply is run by professional operators, below the median market's 39%. The largest named operator, Sykes Holiday Cottages, runs 4 local listings.

Explore the interactive Orkney report

Data updated

Tracked listings
274
Market rank
#550 / 597
National share
under 0.1%
Named professional operators
2

Airbnb vs Booking.com in Orkney

In Orkney, Airbnb leads with 191 listings (70%), 2.3× the 83 on Booking.com (30%).

Where the listings are in Orkney

The dots are a representative sample of tracked short-term rentals — Airbnb in red and Booking.com in blue. Zoom and pan to explore the market, or open the full report for filters, operator overlays, and the listing-level view.

Airbnb Booking.com 250 sampled locations from 274 tracked listings — open the full interactive report

Market structure in Orkney

The 2 named professional operators — Sykes Holiday Cottages and Travelnest Ltd — run 5 local listings between them. The other 11 listings run by operators with 26 or more listings belong to operators without a published profile.

Professional share
6%
Median market
39%
Single-listing hosts
51%

Listings by operator portfolio size

Tracked listings grouped by how many properties their operator runs — from single hosts to 26+ professionals.

  • Single listing 140
  • 2–5 listings 107
  • 6–25 listings 11
  • 26+ (professional) 16

Listings by property type

Houses, cottages & holiday homes make up 68% of Orkney's classified listings, followed by B&Bs & guest houses (11%).

  • Houses, cottages & holiday homes 185
  • B&Bs & guest houses 30
  • Apartments & flats 28
  • Hotels & hostels 14
  • Unique & outdoor 10
  • Private & shared rooms 7

Largest operators in Orkney

Ranked by local tracked listings across Airbnb and Booking.com. Scores and portfolio review totals are aggregated across each operator's tracked United Kingdom listings. The table covers every professional operator we track in this market.

Scroll sideways to see all columns.

Largest operators in Orkney, ranked by local tracked listings.
# Operator Listings Airbnb score Booking.com score Portfolio reviews
1 Sykes Holiday Cottages 4 4.70 / 5 8.9 / 10 179,990
2 Travelnest Ltd 1 4.56 / 5 8.0 / 10 95,073

Browse the full United Kingdom operator directory →

Operators enter the index after reaching 26 listings across the United Kingdom and count Orkney among their markets. See the full interactive Orkney market report for additional filters and operator comparisons.

How Orkney compares

Orkney ranks 550th of 597 tracked markets in the United Kingdom, with under 0.1% of tracked supply in this coverage. Markets of similar size:

Photo credits

Browse the full United Kingdom city directory or the United Kingdom market report .

Orkney market FAQ

How many short-term rentals are in Orkney?

Orkney has 274 short-term rental listings as of August 2026: 191 on Airbnb and 83 on Booking.com.

Who is the largest short-term rental operator in Orkney?

Professional operators have only a small footprint in Orkney. The largest local presence is Sykes Holiday Cottages, with 4 listings.

How professionalised is the Orkney short-term rental market?

6% of Orkney's listings (16 of 274) are run by operators with 26 or more listings, below the median of 597 markets across the United Kingdom (39%). The 2 named professional operators — Sykes Holiday Cottages and Travelnest Ltd — run 5 local listings between them. The other 11 listings run by operators with 26 or more listings belong to operators without a published profile.

Is Airbnb or Booking.com bigger in Orkney?

In Orkney, Airbnb leads with 191 listings (70%), 2.3× the 83 on Booking.com (30%).

How many professional operators run listings in Orkney?

2 named professional operators run listings in Orkney. The full roster is listed on this page, and the interactive market report maps every listing.

About this data

Figures come from myDataValue's cross-platform market snapshot of 274 public short-term rental listings in Orkney, matching Airbnb and Booking.com supply to the operators who run it. Operators enter the index after reaching 26 listings on Airbnb or Booking.com across the United Kingdom. Snapshot dates: Airbnb , Booking.com .

Spotted an inconsistency, or want fresher data for Orkney? Report a data issue or request an update — corrections land with the next data refresh.