15mm R8 PB FINAL ARTWORK spine PEER-TO-PEER ACCOMMODATION NETWORKS ACCOMMODATION PEER-TO-PEER 2 The Sharing Economy 1 PEER-TO-PEER Sara Dolnicar ACCOMMODATION NETWORKS Peer-to-peer accommodation networks are pushing boundaries we did not even know existed. PEER-TO-PEER These networks have rocked the established accommodation sector, dramatically increasing the variety of accommodation options available to people around the world. Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Networks: Pushing the boundaries is the first book to provide an in-depth analysis of the business model of Airbnb, to discuss factors facilitating the transition of peer-to-peer networks from niche market to mainstream accommodation providers, and to ACCOMMODATION predict that the next step of development for peer-to-peer accommodation networks will be to become online one-stop travel shops. Many other hot topics around peer-to-peer accommodation are discussed. Using her first-hand experience as a host on both traditional holiday accommodation webpages NETWORKS and peer-to-peer accommodation networks, respected tourism academic Sara Dolnicar and her fellow contributors examine possible reasons for the explosive success of peer-to-peer accommodation networks, investigate topics relating to peer-to-peer network accommodation which are less frequently discussed (such as charitable activities and social activism), and offer a future research agenda. Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Networks: Pushing the boundaries discusses a wealth of issues including: • Factors that drive the success of peer-to-peer accommodation networks; • Regulations put in place at different destinations around the world to benefit from peer-to-peer accommodation while minimizing negative side-effects; • The potential of peer-to-peer accommodation networks to increase accommodation capacity with a click of a button, which can help fill infrastructure gaps, facilitate events, and give shelter to people if a disaster strikes; • Types of guest and hosts on peer-to-peer accommodation networks, and the social conventions that regulate their interactions; • Who genuine peer-to-peer accommodation networks members are, what motivates tourists to use peer-to-peer accommodation, and the chance of a ‘perfect match’; • Pricing, discrimination, stimulation of entrepreneurship, and consequences for employment in Dolnicar the hospitality sector. Sara Dolnicar PhD, is the Research Professor in Tourism at UQ Business School at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Goodfellow Publishers Limited Pushing the boundaries Oxford, UK. www.goodfellowpublishers.com Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Networks: Pushing the boundaries Sara Dolnicar (G) Goodfellow Publishers Ltd Published by Goodfellow Publishers Limited, (G) 26 Home Close, Wolvercote, Oxford OX2 8PS http://www.goodfellowpublishers.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: on file. DOI 10.23912/9781911396512-3454 e ISBN 978-1-91196-53-6 Paperback ISBN: 978-1-911396-52-9 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-911396-51-2 Copyright © Sara Dolnicar, 2018 All rights reserved. The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Further details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, of Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Open access: Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 All trademarks used herein are the property of their repective owners, The use of trademarks or brand names in this text does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement of this book by such owners. Typesetting by D.S. Pears, Hampshire Cover design by Cylinder Illustrations by Peta Hewitt Contents 1 Unique Features of Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Networks 1 Sara Dolnicar 2 The Sharing Economy 15 Stephan Reinhold and Sara Dolnicar 3 Airbnb’s Business Model 27 Stephan Reinhold and Sara Dolnicar 4 How Airbnb Creates Value 39 Stephan Reinhold and Sara Dolnicar 5 How Airbnb Captures and Disseminates Value 54 Stephan Reinhold and Sara Dolnicar 6 Airbnb and its Competitors 63 Homa Hajibaba and Sara Dolnicar 7 Entrepreneurship Opportunities 77 Marianna Sigala and Sara Dolnicar 8 Networks Becoming One-stop Travel Shops 87 Sarah Gardiner and Sara Dolnicar 9 Filling Infrastructure Gaps 98 Ljubica Knezevic Cvelbar and Sara Dolnicar 10 Supporting Events 109 Sheranne Fairley and Sara Dolnicar 11 Regulatory Reactions Around the World 120 Homa Hajibaba and Sara Dolnicar 12 Drivers of Price in City Destinations: Vienna 137 Bernhard Andreas Hrobath, Friedrich Leisch and Sara Dolnicar iv Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Networks 13 Networks in China 148 Yixiao Xiang and Sara Dolnicar 14 The Impact on Employment 160 Gabor Forgacs and Sara Dolnicar 15 Types of Network Members 170 Anne Hardy and Sara Dolnicar 16 Networks and Hosts – a Love-Hate Relationship 182 Anne Hardy and Sara Dolnicar 17 Socializing New Guests 194 Sara Dolnicar 18 The Multi-Family Travel Market 206 Homa Hajibaba and Sara Dolnicar 19 Do Hosts Discriminate? 216 Homa Hajibaba and Sara Dolnicar 20 Communication-Regulated Social Systems 226 Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow, Anne Hardy and Sara Dolnicar 21 Helping when Disaster Hits 237 Homa Hajibaba and Sara Dolnicar 22 Guests with Disabilities 246 Melanie Randle and Sara Dolnicar 23 Political Activism 257 Homa Hajibaba and Sara Dolnicar 24 Environmental Sustainability 267 Emil Juvan, Homa Hajibaba and Sara Dolnicar Index 279 v Contributors Sara Dolnicar, Department of Tourism, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Australia Ljubica Knezevic Cvelbar, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Sheranne Fairley, Department of Tourism, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Australia Gabor Forgacs, Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Ryerson University, Canada Sarah Gardiner, Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia Homa Hajibaba, Department of Tourism, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Australia Anne Hardy, Tasmanian School of Economics and Business, University of Tasmania, Australia Bernhard Andreas Hrobath, Institute of Applied Statistics and Computing, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria Emil Juvan, Faculty of Tourism Studies Turistica, University of Primorska, Slovenia Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow, Thompson-Nganjmirra Family Friedrich Leisch, Institute of Applied Statistics and Computing, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria Melanie Randle, School of Management, Operations and Marketing, Faculty of Business, University of Wollongong, Australia Stephan Reinhold, Research Center for Tourism and Transport (T&T IMP- HSG), the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland Marianna Sigala, School of Management, University of South Australia, Australia Yixiao Xiang, Department of Tourism Management, School of Management, Shandong University, China vi Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Networks Foreword Spending a month each Christmas with my parents-in-law has proven to be challenging over the years. My husband and I have two little children, who – like most children – are delightful, but do love to run around, make a mess and scream with excitement. And my in-laws live in a pretty compact house. Wandering along a lovely beachside suburb close by, we noticed how many houses were available for holiday rental. We saw a lovely house for sale. We bought it, after having established that we could cover the operating costs by renting it out as a holiday home, although we understood that we would not earn enough to repay the mortgage from rental income. This is how – after 20 years of being a tourism researcher – I became a tourism accommodation provider. It has been a truly fascinating experience, because I managed to make every possible mistake, proving to myself that theory is great, but practice is a whole different kettle of fish. Some of my mistakes came at a high price. One day I found ten doonas (duvets) dripping wet on the clothesline. I did not need to know why they were dripping. But I had no option but to throw them away and buy new ones. Some of my mistakes came at a high emotional cost. I accepted a booking by a family with two children. Shortly after check-in, the neighbors had to call the police because the ‘family’ turned out to be a large group of young adults who arrived equipped with a huge stereo. With every mistake I made, my academic fascination grew. Years after we had bought our beach shack, Airbnb entered the market. I signed up, expecting it would be just another website enabling me to find customers at my own risk charging an outrageously high commission. Soon it became obvious that this was not the case. This new website – which I knew absolutely nothing about – allowed me to learn much more about my guests; allowed me to assess the risk of each booking much more effectively; offered me a guarantee; offered my guests a guarantee; and charged a substantially lower commission. It also wanted me to socialize with