NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Vacation rental company

Airbnb ( ABNB ) sees a huge opportunity to grow its long-term

rental business as short-term rentals are under growing scrutiny

in tourist hot spots like Athens and Barcelona.

The company is focused on growing its long-term rental

business, which refers to stays of 28 days or longer, CEO Brian

Chesky told an audience at a travel conference late Wednesday.

Local governments around the world have clamped down on

short-term rentals as they try to increase housing supply for

full-time residents.

"Stays of 30 to 90 days, monthly stays, the seasonal stays,

I think that's a huge growth opportunity," Chesky said.

Long-term rental bookings have grown in the last few years, he

added, now reaching 17% to 18% of the company's business,

compared to 13% to 14% before the pandemic.

The company is focused in part on expanding its long-term

rental and experience businesses while also offering new

services like matching people with homes who do not have time to

be Airbnb ( ABNB ) hosts with those who would like to be hosts but do not

have properties to list on the site.

Chesky told the audience the company also sees sponsored

home listings as a billion-dollar revenue opportunity, noting

what he has seen from Uber ( UBER ) and competitor Booking

Holdings' ( BKNG ) business models.

Greece and Spain are among the latest countries to tighten

regulations on vacation rentals in an attempt to address housing

shortages.