This House Is a Hotel. To Be Shared

Tourism is one of the industries that have been able to reap the opportunities offered by the collaborative economy business models. The first who benefit from this are tourists, who in addition to saving money can live like locals do and forge new relationships. Choosing to stay in one of the apartments on offer on Airbnb, attend an event posted on Gnammo and discover a city on foot while using Lookals, enables consumers to have experiences that are considered more authentic and genuine. Through the sharing economy, people have an opportunity to feel closer to the culture of the place, precisely because of the power of communities developing around smart platforms.

Travelers are however not the only ones to benefit from the spread of the collaborative economy in the tourism industry. By facilitating a better allocation of resources and increasing existing production capacity, the sharing economy increases the efficiency of the market, by creating value and increasing supply. This effect is particularly marked in underdeveloped tourist areas, where incoming flows are not strong enough to justify investments in facilities that the locality would not be able to sustain. Expanding the size and variety of the tourism supply can drive the increase of demand, by attracting new market segments to the destination itself, benefiting tour operators that traditionally work there, who are then stimulated to rethink their business models with a view to innovate what they put on offer.

Within the tourist industry, there are four sectors that have been affected by sharing economy platforms: accommodation, transportation, dining, and entertainment occurring during one's stay. Exploiting the potential offered by smartphone technology, residents of many cities have put their wealth of local knowledge at the disposal of tourists through digital applications like Guidemeright, Vayable, Withlocals, Voomago, which offer experiences of all kinds, such as themed walks, days in the company of a farmer, cooking lessons, fishing, and so on.

Also numerous are platforms that have made possible the spread of social eating (or home dining), among both residents and travelers: Eatwith, Bonappetour, Newgusto are apps that enable hosts to invite guests for a home meal with the intent of socializing, with usually some form of compensation being offered by the guest. This occurs also in transportation services, think of car-sharing (Enjoy, car2go, Turo), car-pooling (Blablacar, Autostrade Carpool) or ride-sharing (Lyft), as well as bike-sharing (BikeMi, Velibn) coach-sharing (GoGoBus), boatsharing (Sailsquare, Weareonaboat), up to the level of the personal jet (JetSmarter, Victor).

There is no doubt however that the accommodation industry is the one to have been most revolutionized by the sharing economy. Airbnb and Homeaway are the best-known players in this game. The first acts as middleman between those seeking short-term accommodation with those who have a room or an apartment to sublet of rent (both individuals and agencies). The second is a platform specializing in the rental of holiday homes that acts as broker between renters, property owners and travel agents. Both have spread globally. They typically provide a mutual evaluation system between hosts and guests. Next to these two giants, the market comprises many other smaller platforms, some having a similar global reach, others specializing in particular kinds of accommodation, and others yet with a strong local presence. Examples include 9flats, Atraveo, Bedycasa, FlipKey, Guesttoguest, Homelidays.

Finally, we should not forget that alternatives to traditional hotel accommodation are particularly attractive to specific customer segments (families with children, groups of friends, business visitors) for the functional advantages they offer to those who stay for longer periods. One thing goes without saying, however: authorities should implement policy actions to integrate the sharing economy with the traditional accommodation industry, thus avoiding unfair price and regulatory competition, namely in terms of taxation and guarantees of guests' safety.