This document discusses the phenomenon of the sharing economy and Airbnb. It provides background on Airbnb, describing how it was founded in 2008 and has grown significantly each year. It discusses the economics of Airbnb, including studies that found Airbnb guests tend to stay longer and spend more than traditional tourists. It also discusses how authenticity and a desire for more unique experiences are driving factors for travelers using services like Airbnb.
Summarized 36 startups in the world deploying "Sharing Economy" For instance, Airbnb, UBER, Wework and other companies are of the material with detail explanation.
Innovation strategy through the business model in digitalFaiz Mimita 🎬
This document provides an overview of innovation strategy through business models in the digital age, using Airbnb as a case study. It discusses how the internet has changed business models, from traditional bricks and mortar to pure online players to click and mortar combinations. Case studies of Virgin Megastore, Amazon and Fnac are presented as examples of each type of business model. The document also outlines Airbnb's business model of allowing people to list, discover and book unique accommodations around the world.
The document provides an introduction to the sharing economy and Airbnb as a prominent example. It discusses how the sharing economy allows for underutilized resources to be shared through online platforms. Airbnb allows people to rent out rooms or homes when they are away. It has grown significantly with more listings than hotels in some cities. The sharing economy is impacting many industries like tourism by offering new accommodation options and experiences that travelers seek. Both opportunities and challenges exist for traditional businesses.
The document discusses the sharing economy and its benefits and challenges. It defines the sharing economy as an economic model based on sharing underutilized assets like spaces, skills, and items for monetary or non-monetary benefits through peer-to-peer marketplaces. Examples like Airbnb and Uber are given. Benefits include activating idle resources, dividing ownership, and shifting trust through online platforms and ratings systems. However, challenges include a lack of consistent regulations and fully integrated trust and rating systems across sharing economy platforms.
The sharing economy matchmaker-chinese-20170409Craig Chao
The Sharing Economy 共享經濟
The End of Employment and Rise of Crowd-based Capitalism
雇用的結束、以及群眾資本主義的興起
Chap 6 The Shifting Landscape of Regulation and Consumer Protection
Developing a Sharing Economy System
Oct 2013, AirBnB
225,000 New Yorkers users
NY state attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman asked AirBnB to turn over host data
More than taxes
“Illegal hotels” law, 2010
Outlawded NYers livings in multi-unit dwellings their abodes for less than 30 days
Residents could still be AirBnB hosts so long as they were present in their apartment
No entire apartment
Developing a Sharing Economy System
Objected AirBnB
Neighborhood safety
Started renting out units Instead of long-term residents
Exacerbates the affordable housing crisis
Serious public safety concerns
Data-Driven Delegation
Developing a Sharing Economy System
Share Better
Developing a Sharing Economy System
Complexities of the sharing economy
Low-cost UberPop
shutdown in Span, the end of 2014
Banned in Paris and Berlin, 2015
UberX
Shutdown in Seoul in March 2015
Entire service
Shutdown in New York’s East Hampton in June 2015
Investigated in Dutch in April 2015
Legalize
Belgium by 2016, California & Virginia…
....
Machine learning added value
Integrate social responsibilities into platform
Open innovation to its own regulation challenges and unresolved regulation challenges
Chap 6 The Shifting Landscape of Regulation and Consumer Protection
Summary and beyond
Summary
Multi-level self-regulatory platforms
(Big) Data as a new communication and control intermediary
The beyond
New privacy(隱私) issues
Liability(義務) and insurance(保險)
Blockchain(區塊鏈)-based exchange and smart-contracts(智能合約)
Learn what is sharing economy and how does it business model work. Know it's core values with some impressive facts added with few current key players in market to give a clear idea of where the future of sharing economy leading us.
Sharing economy is the future of business with an expected market rise to $335 Billion by 2025 currently valued at $25 billion.
Summarized 36 startups in the world deploying "Sharing Economy" For instance, Airbnb, UBER, Wework and other companies are of the material with detail explanation.
Innovation strategy through the business model in digitalFaiz Mimita 🎬
This document provides an overview of innovation strategy through business models in the digital age, using Airbnb as a case study. It discusses how the internet has changed business models, from traditional bricks and mortar to pure online players to click and mortar combinations. Case studies of Virgin Megastore, Amazon and Fnac are presented as examples of each type of business model. The document also outlines Airbnb's business model of allowing people to list, discover and book unique accommodations around the world.
The document provides an introduction to the sharing economy and Airbnb as a prominent example. It discusses how the sharing economy allows for underutilized resources to be shared through online platforms. Airbnb allows people to rent out rooms or homes when they are away. It has grown significantly with more listings than hotels in some cities. The sharing economy is impacting many industries like tourism by offering new accommodation options and experiences that travelers seek. Both opportunities and challenges exist for traditional businesses.
The document discusses the sharing economy and its benefits and challenges. It defines the sharing economy as an economic model based on sharing underutilized assets like spaces, skills, and items for monetary or non-monetary benefits through peer-to-peer marketplaces. Examples like Airbnb and Uber are given. Benefits include activating idle resources, dividing ownership, and shifting trust through online platforms and ratings systems. However, challenges include a lack of consistent regulations and fully integrated trust and rating systems across sharing economy platforms.
The sharing economy matchmaker-chinese-20170409Craig Chao
The Sharing Economy 共享經濟
The End of Employment and Rise of Crowd-based Capitalism
雇用的結束、以及群眾資本主義的興起
Chap 6 The Shifting Landscape of Regulation and Consumer Protection
Developing a Sharing Economy System
Oct 2013, AirBnB
225,000 New Yorkers users
NY state attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman asked AirBnB to turn over host data
More than taxes
“Illegal hotels” law, 2010
Outlawded NYers livings in multi-unit dwellings their abodes for less than 30 days
Residents could still be AirBnB hosts so long as they were present in their apartment
No entire apartment
Developing a Sharing Economy System
Objected AirBnB
Neighborhood safety
Started renting out units Instead of long-term residents
Exacerbates the affordable housing crisis
Serious public safety concerns
Data-Driven Delegation
Developing a Sharing Economy System
Share Better
Developing a Sharing Economy System
Complexities of the sharing economy
Low-cost UberPop
shutdown in Span, the end of 2014
Banned in Paris and Berlin, 2015
UberX
Shutdown in Seoul in March 2015
Entire service
Shutdown in New York’s East Hampton in June 2015
Investigated in Dutch in April 2015
Legalize
Belgium by 2016, California & Virginia…
....
Machine learning added value
Integrate social responsibilities into platform
Open innovation to its own regulation challenges and unresolved regulation challenges
Chap 6 The Shifting Landscape of Regulation and Consumer Protection
Summary and beyond
Summary
Multi-level self-regulatory platforms
(Big) Data as a new communication and control intermediary
The beyond
New privacy(隱私) issues
Liability(義務) and insurance(保險)
Blockchain(區塊鏈)-based exchange and smart-contracts(智能合約)
Learn what is sharing economy and how does it business model work. Know it's core values with some impressive facts added with few current key players in market to give a clear idea of where the future of sharing economy leading us.
Sharing economy is the future of business with an expected market rise to $335 Billion by 2025 currently valued at $25 billion.
1. Airbnb is an online marketplace that allows people to list, find, and rent lodging in over 34,000 cities worldwide. It was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco.
2. Luxury Boutique Accommodation is one of the agencies in Malaysia that uses Airbnb to rent out short-term vacation properties. Hosts are able to earn money by renting out extra rooms or homes.
3. Airbnb provides a more personal experience than hotels by allowing guests to stay in residential properties. Hosts put effort into maintaining good guest experiences and communication. Both local and foreign guests use Airbnb for "staycations" or longer-term
Caroline Sturm - Università della Svizzera Italiana - TechnoArk 2014TechnoArk
This document discusses the sharing economy and its impact on tourism. It provides statistics on social media usage and the top destinations for overseas visitors. The focus is on how the sharing platform Airbnb has disrupted the hotel industry in various cities. Charts and maps show Airbnb listings concentrated in tourist and residential areas, compared to hotel zones. Issues around regulating Airbnb to benefit hosts, guests and communities are also mentioned.
A new study by Cleantech Group found that:
1) Traveling via Airbnb results in significantly lower energy and water usage as well as fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less waste compared to hotels. Airbnb guests use 63% less energy in North America and save enough to power 19,000 homes for a year.
2) Airbnb hosts also frequently engage in sustainable practices like owning energy efficient appliances and limiting single-use toiletries.
3) Environmental experts say the findings suggest Airbnb has set a higher standard for sustainable tourism that other industries will find difficult to match.
This document summarizes research conducted on the local Airbnb culture in Savannah, GA. Interviews were conducted with various stakeholders, including hosts, guests, accommodations, the city, and neighbors. Key findings included that hosts use Airbnb for additional income, but it can negatively impact affordable housing. Guests enjoy the cheaper prices and local experience. Some solutions proposed included clearer definitions for different accommodation types, customized zoning based on neighborhoods, restructuring taxes, and creating a website for managing short-term vacation rentals. The goal of the research was to understand all perspectives involved in the home sharing economy on Airbnb.
This document provides background information on Airbnb and discusses the communications problem it faced in 2014. It summarizes that Airbnb was relatively unknown in the US compared to competitors and faced misperceptions that it was only for couch surfing and raised safety/security concerns about staying with strangers. To address this, Airbnb launched its "Never a Stranger" campaign in 2015 to build trust by showing the benefits of meeting new people through home sharing. The campaign successfully increased brand awareness, website traffic, and business for Airbnb.
This document contains an 8-part agenda for an Airbnb 2020 strategic planning meeting. It includes an executive summary that outlines enhancing customer service, building on their peer-to-peer business model, and expanding revenue growth in the US and emerging countries. Subsequent sections provide an economic overview of the growing business travel industry, details on Airbnb's business model and founders, a SWOT analysis, a 5-year strategic plan focusing on customer service, business travel, and expansion, revenue and cost projections, and a conclusion.
This document provides an overview of a campaign proposal for Airbnb created by Overstep Communications. It begins with an executive summary describing Airbnb's history, current challenges around lack of awareness and security concerns, and the target audience of millennials in the US, China, and Korea. The rest of the document includes a situation analysis of Airbnb, research on the target audience, and recommendations for campaign goals, creative strategies, media strategies, and promotional strategies to increase sign-ups and address security concerns. The overall goal is to get more people to sign up as Airbnb members.
Strategic plan harvard business review casestudy airbnb company Mohie Ismail
This document provides the Strategic Plan for Airbnb for 2017-2021. The plan provides an analysis and evaluation of Airbnb by reviewing the company’s strategic management, profitability and market competitiveness. Methods of analysis include Strategic Position & Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix, and Grand Strategy Selection Matrix as well as Situational Analysis.
This document analyzes AirBnB and its superior performance. It summarizes AirBnB's marketing environment and strategies. Regarding the environment: political/legal issues posed challenges but regulations are changing; the economic crisis increased demand for cheaper accommodations. Regarding strategies: AirBnB's offers authentic local living at lower prices than hotels; extensive digital promotion expanded globally; future success requires expanding customer segments and improving security standards while promoting the brand.
The marketing plan aims to expand Airbnb's website and mobile applications to offer more travel features to meet the needs of its global clientele. It proposes an advertising budget of $405,730 and additional investments totaling $2,350,000. A six-month marketing campaign from January to June 2014 will use banner ads, direct mail, airport banners, and increased social media presence on platforms like Facebook and blogs. The goals are to increase brand awareness, recruit more hosts, and boost online bookings. Metrics like consumer feedback and employee satisfaction will be used to evaluate the campaign's effectiveness.
The 2016 State of Travel deck draws from our daily coverage of the global travel industry, from our ongoing series of Skift Trends Reports, and also incorporates expert research from throughout the travel industry.
Airbnb is an online marketplace founded in 2008 that allows individuals to rent out spare rooms or entire homes to travelers on a short-term basis. It operates in more than 191 countries and 33,000 cities worldwide. The company was founded by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk in San Francisco. Airbnb handles the booking process and charges fees of 3% from hosts and 6-12% from guests. It has become a popular alternative to traditional hotels and has faced some criticism over legal compliance with regulations.
- Airbnb began in 2008 when two hosts rented out air mattresses in their loft. It has since grown exponentially with over 1.5 million listings globally.
- Despite growth, research shows daily user traffic has plateaued. The document analyzes why through surveys finding most see Airbnb as a hotel substitute rather than a unique experience.
- To address this, the document recommends segmenting Airbnb's offerings into three categories (AirHome, AirSuites, CrashNight) to better target different user groups and change perceptions. This mirrors Uber's successful segmentation strategy.
Airbnb is an online marketplace that connects people looking to rent their homes with travelers seeking accommodations. Founded in 2008, it has grown to facilitate over 60 million guest stays across 192 countries annually. While it has disrupted the hotel industry, Airbnb's home-sharing model has also faced regulatory issues regarding taxation and safety. The document examines Airbnb's history and operations, as well as examples of regulations and controversies in various locations worldwide.
2. Strategic Issues Analysis (Internal and External) Using the releva.pdfaggarwalenterprises1
2. Strategic Issues Analysis (Internal and External) Using the relevant analytical tools, conduct
an analysis of both the internal and external environment as presented in the case. - Relevant
analytical tools can include PESTEL, SWOT, Stakeholder mapping, Porter's Competitive Forces
Analysis, BCG matrix, strategic capabilities, strategic resource, positioning analysis, etc.
"Nothing is a transaction. Everything is a transformation" (Chesky as cited in Ive, 2015). We are
living in a world which is powered, to a large extent, by a shared economy. To view business as
usual will no longer work. Airbnb's success story, what it has done and achieved, is not just a
celebration of creativity - it is the very definition of game-changer. Company overview Avid
travellers will know Airbnb, an online lodging rental platform. People can become a host on
Airbnb by listing their spare rooms while travellers can search for their holiday locations and
ideal accommodation. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, both graduates of Rhode Island School of
Design, founded AirbedandBreadfast in 2007 to rent out air mattresses and provide breakfast
options in their apartment to visitors attending a design conference in San Francisco. They did so
to pay for their own rental fees. The idea was to offer visitors a way to save some money by not
having to pay prices charged by hotels. A concept totally unheard of in those days, they only
managed to interest three guests. In 2008, they were joined by Nathan Blecharczyk, a computer
engineer trained in Harvard who was also Gebbia's roommate before Chesky. Their initial
intention was to target visitors at large-scale events and conventions, where hotel rooms were
expensive and alternative accommodation was scarce. This effort produced a few thousand
listings in 67 countries. Advertising on Facebook together with email campaigns worked well
during the events. However, revenue dropped to a paltry sum at other times. In 2009, upon
advice from Paul Graham, Founder of start-up incubator Y Combinator, Chesky and Gebbia
went to New York City to gather feedback and learn from their successful hosts. After the visit,
they revamped the website based on the experiences of these hosts and high-quality photographs
of the apartments were added. This was in sharp contrast to the less professional-looking
photographs common on websites such as HomeAway and TripAdvisor. They changed the
company name from Airbedandbreakfast to Airbnb in 2010. The site's offerings were extended
to include the rental of a variety of properties such as entire homes and apartments, private
rooms, castles, boats, manors, treehouses, tipis, igloos and even islands. Business grew steadily
and by 2011, Airbnb raised more than USD 7.2 million and acquired several of its competitors -
Accoleo in 2011 and CrashPadder in 2012. In addition, the company acquired travel guides
NabeWise and Localmind in 2012 which allowed it to provide localised information on various
destinations. By .
PERCEPTION OF HOME-SHARING INDUSTRY: A STUDY OF COMPARING AIRBNB AND COUCHSUR...cscpconf
The aim of this paper is to examine people’s perceptions of home sharing industry through
comparing Airbnb and Couchsurfing, using python to crawling twitter’s data. We conducted
semantic network analysis by using UCINET, which is embedded with NETDRAW, for
calculating betweenness centrality and visualizing semantic network based on multidimensional
scaling(MDS). And we also used LIWC to analysis public sentimental perceptions. The present
study’s results show that the characteristics discovered about Airbnb and Couchsurfing in
cyberspace have possible future directions in view of word usage frequency, centrality and
semantic networks. Moreover, the results show that in sentimental aspects, there are different
public trends of emotions on Airbnb and Couchsurfing. Through those results, researchers
provide information to understand which sectors should entrepreneurs put more efforts and
money.
This document discusses Airbnb and its impact on the hotel industry. It begins by defining the sharing economy and how Airbnb fits within that trend. It then summarizes Airbnb's business model, rapid growth, and key reasons for its success, which include meeting consumer needs for value, personalization, and empowerment. The document also outlines some of the challenges Airbnb faces, such as regulation and competition from sites focused on luxury rentals, family travel, or hotel services. In conclusion, while Airbnb is disruptive to the hotel industry, hotels are working to address consumer trends and fight back with enhanced loyalty programs and personalized offers.
This presentation describes the components of canvas business model of Airbnb. You can find out it's business model clearly with this presentation.
I hope it helps you.
Airbnb is the leading online marketplace for short-term home rentals. The document discusses Airbnb's $1B investment opportunity at a $20B valuation. It summarizes Airbnb's business model, large addressable market across vacation rentals and new markets created, strong network effects and competitive advantages, and financial projections estimating high growth and returns. However, the author recommends passing on the deal given the high $20B valuation limits potential returns to only 0.7-1.1x on investment.
FEATURE - ‘Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How Much Did Technol.docxmglenn3
FEATURE - ‘Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How
Much Did Technology Help Get Us There?
By Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times Aug. 29, 2018
Reference: Manjoo, F. (2019, Aug. 29). ‘Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How Much Did
Technology Help Get Us There? The New York Times. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/technology/technology-overtourism-europe.html
By Farhad Manjoo
Over the summer, my wife and I traveled with our two young kids on a two-week
vacation through Europe.
It wasn’t as highfalutin as it sounds. In London, our Airbnb had ample skylights —
which rendered the place all but uninhabitable during Europe’s heat wave. In Paris, our
charming home-share had a cavernous hole in the ceiling of the entryway, revealing
load-bearing beams that appeared to have been rotting since Napoleon’s reign. And in
Amsterdam, our Airbnb advertised a kids’ bedroom stocked with toys — but failed to
mention the mosquitoes and mice.
I’m not complaining. If travel mishaps are the stuff of memory, my vacation was
unforgettable. And without home-sharing services like Airbnb, review sites like
TripAdvisor and conveniences like Uber, OpenTable and Expedia, the trip would have
been far more expensive, less accessible and, in a strange way, less authentic.
But my tech-abetted trip was illuminating, too, because it provided a firsthand look into
a vexing problem that has gripped much of Europe lately — the worry of “overtourism,”
and the rising chorus that blames technologies like Airbnb, Uber and other internet-
enabled travel conveniences for the menace.
Every summer, the most popular European destinations get stuffed to the gills with
tourists, who outnumber locals by many multiples, turning hot spots into sweaty, selfie-
stick-clogged, “Disneyfied”towns. They offer a taste of a growing global threat: Across
the world, thanks in part to rising affluence, travel is becoming a more widely shared
pastime. International trips were up 6 percent in the first half of the year, surpassing
experts’ forecasts, according to the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization.
This growth might once have been considered unambiguously good news. But the
world’s most popular destinations cannot expand to accommodate an infinite flood of
visitors. Advocates of curbing tourism say too many visitors are altering the character of
historic cities, and making travel terrible, too.
“It’s a level of tourism which is degrading the enjoyment that residents have, but it’s also
degrading the tourist experience, because the tourist who is endlessly queuing behind
backpacks of hundreds of other tourists is not discovering the real or the authentic
place,” said Justin Francis, the chief executive of Responsible Travel, a company that
arranges “sustainable” travel for customers.
What’s to blame? In addition to broad prosperity, there’s technology, defined very
broadly.
Over the last few decades, innovations in aviation — wider, more e.
1. Airbnb is an online marketplace that allows people to list, find, and rent lodging in over 34,000 cities worldwide. It was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco.
2. Luxury Boutique Accommodation is one of the agencies in Malaysia that uses Airbnb to rent out short-term vacation properties. Hosts are able to earn money by renting out extra rooms or homes.
3. Airbnb provides a more personal experience than hotels by allowing guests to stay in residential properties. Hosts put effort into maintaining good guest experiences and communication. Both local and foreign guests use Airbnb for "staycations" or longer-term
Caroline Sturm - Università della Svizzera Italiana - TechnoArk 2014TechnoArk
This document discusses the sharing economy and its impact on tourism. It provides statistics on social media usage and the top destinations for overseas visitors. The focus is on how the sharing platform Airbnb has disrupted the hotel industry in various cities. Charts and maps show Airbnb listings concentrated in tourist and residential areas, compared to hotel zones. Issues around regulating Airbnb to benefit hosts, guests and communities are also mentioned.
A new study by Cleantech Group found that:
1) Traveling via Airbnb results in significantly lower energy and water usage as well as fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less waste compared to hotels. Airbnb guests use 63% less energy in North America and save enough to power 19,000 homes for a year.
2) Airbnb hosts also frequently engage in sustainable practices like owning energy efficient appliances and limiting single-use toiletries.
3) Environmental experts say the findings suggest Airbnb has set a higher standard for sustainable tourism that other industries will find difficult to match.
This document summarizes research conducted on the local Airbnb culture in Savannah, GA. Interviews were conducted with various stakeholders, including hosts, guests, accommodations, the city, and neighbors. Key findings included that hosts use Airbnb for additional income, but it can negatively impact affordable housing. Guests enjoy the cheaper prices and local experience. Some solutions proposed included clearer definitions for different accommodation types, customized zoning based on neighborhoods, restructuring taxes, and creating a website for managing short-term vacation rentals. The goal of the research was to understand all perspectives involved in the home sharing economy on Airbnb.
This document provides background information on Airbnb and discusses the communications problem it faced in 2014. It summarizes that Airbnb was relatively unknown in the US compared to competitors and faced misperceptions that it was only for couch surfing and raised safety/security concerns about staying with strangers. To address this, Airbnb launched its "Never a Stranger" campaign in 2015 to build trust by showing the benefits of meeting new people through home sharing. The campaign successfully increased brand awareness, website traffic, and business for Airbnb.
This document contains an 8-part agenda for an Airbnb 2020 strategic planning meeting. It includes an executive summary that outlines enhancing customer service, building on their peer-to-peer business model, and expanding revenue growth in the US and emerging countries. Subsequent sections provide an economic overview of the growing business travel industry, details on Airbnb's business model and founders, a SWOT analysis, a 5-year strategic plan focusing on customer service, business travel, and expansion, revenue and cost projections, and a conclusion.
This document provides an overview of a campaign proposal for Airbnb created by Overstep Communications. It begins with an executive summary describing Airbnb's history, current challenges around lack of awareness and security concerns, and the target audience of millennials in the US, China, and Korea. The rest of the document includes a situation analysis of Airbnb, research on the target audience, and recommendations for campaign goals, creative strategies, media strategies, and promotional strategies to increase sign-ups and address security concerns. The overall goal is to get more people to sign up as Airbnb members.
Strategic plan harvard business review casestudy airbnb company Mohie Ismail
This document provides the Strategic Plan for Airbnb for 2017-2021. The plan provides an analysis and evaluation of Airbnb by reviewing the company’s strategic management, profitability and market competitiveness. Methods of analysis include Strategic Position & Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix, and Grand Strategy Selection Matrix as well as Situational Analysis.
This document analyzes AirBnB and its superior performance. It summarizes AirBnB's marketing environment and strategies. Regarding the environment: political/legal issues posed challenges but regulations are changing; the economic crisis increased demand for cheaper accommodations. Regarding strategies: AirBnB's offers authentic local living at lower prices than hotels; extensive digital promotion expanded globally; future success requires expanding customer segments and improving security standards while promoting the brand.
The marketing plan aims to expand Airbnb's website and mobile applications to offer more travel features to meet the needs of its global clientele. It proposes an advertising budget of $405,730 and additional investments totaling $2,350,000. A six-month marketing campaign from January to June 2014 will use banner ads, direct mail, airport banners, and increased social media presence on platforms like Facebook and blogs. The goals are to increase brand awareness, recruit more hosts, and boost online bookings. Metrics like consumer feedback and employee satisfaction will be used to evaluate the campaign's effectiveness.
The 2016 State of Travel deck draws from our daily coverage of the global travel industry, from our ongoing series of Skift Trends Reports, and also incorporates expert research from throughout the travel industry.
Airbnb is an online marketplace founded in 2008 that allows individuals to rent out spare rooms or entire homes to travelers on a short-term basis. It operates in more than 191 countries and 33,000 cities worldwide. The company was founded by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk in San Francisco. Airbnb handles the booking process and charges fees of 3% from hosts and 6-12% from guests. It has become a popular alternative to traditional hotels and has faced some criticism over legal compliance with regulations.
- Airbnb began in 2008 when two hosts rented out air mattresses in their loft. It has since grown exponentially with over 1.5 million listings globally.
- Despite growth, research shows daily user traffic has plateaued. The document analyzes why through surveys finding most see Airbnb as a hotel substitute rather than a unique experience.
- To address this, the document recommends segmenting Airbnb's offerings into three categories (AirHome, AirSuites, CrashNight) to better target different user groups and change perceptions. This mirrors Uber's successful segmentation strategy.
Airbnb is an online marketplace that connects people looking to rent their homes with travelers seeking accommodations. Founded in 2008, it has grown to facilitate over 60 million guest stays across 192 countries annually. While it has disrupted the hotel industry, Airbnb's home-sharing model has also faced regulatory issues regarding taxation and safety. The document examines Airbnb's history and operations, as well as examples of regulations and controversies in various locations worldwide.
2. Strategic Issues Analysis (Internal and External) Using the releva.pdfaggarwalenterprises1
2. Strategic Issues Analysis (Internal and External) Using the relevant analytical tools, conduct
an analysis of both the internal and external environment as presented in the case. - Relevant
analytical tools can include PESTEL, SWOT, Stakeholder mapping, Porter's Competitive Forces
Analysis, BCG matrix, strategic capabilities, strategic resource, positioning analysis, etc.
"Nothing is a transaction. Everything is a transformation" (Chesky as cited in Ive, 2015). We are
living in a world which is powered, to a large extent, by a shared economy. To view business as
usual will no longer work. Airbnb's success story, what it has done and achieved, is not just a
celebration of creativity - it is the very definition of game-changer. Company overview Avid
travellers will know Airbnb, an online lodging rental platform. People can become a host on
Airbnb by listing their spare rooms while travellers can search for their holiday locations and
ideal accommodation. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, both graduates of Rhode Island School of
Design, founded AirbedandBreadfast in 2007 to rent out air mattresses and provide breakfast
options in their apartment to visitors attending a design conference in San Francisco. They did so
to pay for their own rental fees. The idea was to offer visitors a way to save some money by not
having to pay prices charged by hotels. A concept totally unheard of in those days, they only
managed to interest three guests. In 2008, they were joined by Nathan Blecharczyk, a computer
engineer trained in Harvard who was also Gebbia's roommate before Chesky. Their initial
intention was to target visitors at large-scale events and conventions, where hotel rooms were
expensive and alternative accommodation was scarce. This effort produced a few thousand
listings in 67 countries. Advertising on Facebook together with email campaigns worked well
during the events. However, revenue dropped to a paltry sum at other times. In 2009, upon
advice from Paul Graham, Founder of start-up incubator Y Combinator, Chesky and Gebbia
went to New York City to gather feedback and learn from their successful hosts. After the visit,
they revamped the website based on the experiences of these hosts and high-quality photographs
of the apartments were added. This was in sharp contrast to the less professional-looking
photographs common on websites such as HomeAway and TripAdvisor. They changed the
company name from Airbedandbreakfast to Airbnb in 2010. The site's offerings were extended
to include the rental of a variety of properties such as entire homes and apartments, private
rooms, castles, boats, manors, treehouses, tipis, igloos and even islands. Business grew steadily
and by 2011, Airbnb raised more than USD 7.2 million and acquired several of its competitors -
Accoleo in 2011 and CrashPadder in 2012. In addition, the company acquired travel guides
NabeWise and Localmind in 2012 which allowed it to provide localised information on various
destinations. By .
PERCEPTION OF HOME-SHARING INDUSTRY: A STUDY OF COMPARING AIRBNB AND COUCHSUR...cscpconf
The aim of this paper is to examine people’s perceptions of home sharing industry through
comparing Airbnb and Couchsurfing, using python to crawling twitter’s data. We conducted
semantic network analysis by using UCINET, which is embedded with NETDRAW, for
calculating betweenness centrality and visualizing semantic network based on multidimensional
scaling(MDS). And we also used LIWC to analysis public sentimental perceptions. The present
study’s results show that the characteristics discovered about Airbnb and Couchsurfing in
cyberspace have possible future directions in view of word usage frequency, centrality and
semantic networks. Moreover, the results show that in sentimental aspects, there are different
public trends of emotions on Airbnb and Couchsurfing. Through those results, researchers
provide information to understand which sectors should entrepreneurs put more efforts and
money.
This document discusses Airbnb and its impact on the hotel industry. It begins by defining the sharing economy and how Airbnb fits within that trend. It then summarizes Airbnb's business model, rapid growth, and key reasons for its success, which include meeting consumer needs for value, personalization, and empowerment. The document also outlines some of the challenges Airbnb faces, such as regulation and competition from sites focused on luxury rentals, family travel, or hotel services. In conclusion, while Airbnb is disruptive to the hotel industry, hotels are working to address consumer trends and fight back with enhanced loyalty programs and personalized offers.
This presentation describes the components of canvas business model of Airbnb. You can find out it's business model clearly with this presentation.
I hope it helps you.
Airbnb is the leading online marketplace for short-term home rentals. The document discusses Airbnb's $1B investment opportunity at a $20B valuation. It summarizes Airbnb's business model, large addressable market across vacation rentals and new markets created, strong network effects and competitive advantages, and financial projections estimating high growth and returns. However, the author recommends passing on the deal given the high $20B valuation limits potential returns to only 0.7-1.1x on investment.
FEATURE - ‘Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How Much Did Technol.docxmglenn3
FEATURE - ‘Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How
Much Did Technology Help Get Us There?
By Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times Aug. 29, 2018
Reference: Manjoo, F. (2019, Aug. 29). ‘Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How Much Did
Technology Help Get Us There? The New York Times. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/technology/technology-overtourism-europe.html
By Farhad Manjoo
Over the summer, my wife and I traveled with our two young kids on a two-week
vacation through Europe.
It wasn’t as highfalutin as it sounds. In London, our Airbnb had ample skylights —
which rendered the place all but uninhabitable during Europe’s heat wave. In Paris, our
charming home-share had a cavernous hole in the ceiling of the entryway, revealing
load-bearing beams that appeared to have been rotting since Napoleon’s reign. And in
Amsterdam, our Airbnb advertised a kids’ bedroom stocked with toys — but failed to
mention the mosquitoes and mice.
I’m not complaining. If travel mishaps are the stuff of memory, my vacation was
unforgettable. And without home-sharing services like Airbnb, review sites like
TripAdvisor and conveniences like Uber, OpenTable and Expedia, the trip would have
been far more expensive, less accessible and, in a strange way, less authentic.
But my tech-abetted trip was illuminating, too, because it provided a firsthand look into
a vexing problem that has gripped much of Europe lately — the worry of “overtourism,”
and the rising chorus that blames technologies like Airbnb, Uber and other internet-
enabled travel conveniences for the menace.
Every summer, the most popular European destinations get stuffed to the gills with
tourists, who outnumber locals by many multiples, turning hot spots into sweaty, selfie-
stick-clogged, “Disneyfied”towns. They offer a taste of a growing global threat: Across
the world, thanks in part to rising affluence, travel is becoming a more widely shared
pastime. International trips were up 6 percent in the first half of the year, surpassing
experts’ forecasts, according to the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization.
This growth might once have been considered unambiguously good news. But the
world’s most popular destinations cannot expand to accommodate an infinite flood of
visitors. Advocates of curbing tourism say too many visitors are altering the character of
historic cities, and making travel terrible, too.
“It’s a level of tourism which is degrading the enjoyment that residents have, but it’s also
degrading the tourist experience, because the tourist who is endlessly queuing behind
backpacks of hundreds of other tourists is not discovering the real or the authentic
place,” said Justin Francis, the chief executive of Responsible Travel, a company that
arranges “sustainable” travel for customers.
What’s to blame? In addition to broad prosperity, there’s technology, defined very
broadly.
Over the last few decades, innovations in aviation — wider, more e.
FEATURE - ‘Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How Much Did Technol.docxlmelaine
FEATURE - ‘Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How
Much Did Technology Help Get Us There?
By Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times Aug. 29, 2018
Reference: Manjoo, F. (2019, Aug. 29). ‘Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How Much Did
Technology Help Get Us There? The New York Times. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/technology/technology-overtourism-europe.html
By Farhad Manjoo
Over the summer, my wife and I traveled with our two young kids on a two-week
vacation through Europe.
It wasn’t as highfalutin as it sounds. In London, our Airbnb had ample skylights —
which rendered the place all but uninhabitable during Europe’s heat wave. In Paris, our
charming home-share had a cavernous hole in the ceiling of the entryway, revealing
load-bearing beams that appeared to have been rotting since Napoleon’s reign. And in
Amsterdam, our Airbnb advertised a kids’ bedroom stocked with toys — but failed to
mention the mosquitoes and mice.
I’m not complaining. If travel mishaps are the stuff of memory, my vacation was
unforgettable. And without home-sharing services like Airbnb, review sites like
TripAdvisor and conveniences like Uber, OpenTable and Expedia, the trip would have
been far more expensive, less accessible and, in a strange way, less authentic.
But my tech-abetted trip was illuminating, too, because it provided a firsthand look into
a vexing problem that has gripped much of Europe lately — the worry of “overtourism,”
and the rising chorus that blames technologies like Airbnb, Uber and other internet-
enabled travel conveniences for the menace.
Every summer, the most popular European destinations get stuffed to the gills with
tourists, who outnumber locals by many multiples, turning hot spots into sweaty, selfie-
stick-clogged, “Disneyfied”towns. They offer a taste of a growing global threat: Across
the world, thanks in part to rising affluence, travel is becoming a more widely shared
pastime. International trips were up 6 percent in the first half of the year, surpassing
experts’ forecasts, according to the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization.
This growth might once have been considered unambiguously good news. But the
world’s most popular destinations cannot expand to accommodate an infinite flood of
visitors. Advocates of curbing tourism say too many visitors are altering the character of
historic cities, and making travel terrible, too.
“It’s a level of tourism which is degrading the enjoyment that residents have, but it’s also
degrading the tourist experience, because the tourist who is endlessly queuing behind
backpacks of hundreds of other tourists is not discovering the real or the authentic
place,” said Justin Francis, the chief executive of Responsible Travel, a company that
arranges “sustainable” travel for customers.
What’s to blame? In addition to broad prosperity, there’s technology, defined very
broadly.
Over the last few decades, innovations in aviation — wider, more e ...
This document discusses how peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms are disrupting the travel industry. It outlines various P2P services focused on hospitality, experiences, transportation, and social connections. While some traditional players view P2P as competition, the document argues they could embrace it by partnering with these startups, launching complementary services, or taking inspiration from what consumers like about P2P's authentic local experiences and ability to connect and share. It also notes that P2P appeals most to millennials but could attract other generations, and that established brands have strengths around trust and convenience that P2P lacks.
The Internet of Things as a fueling agent for the Sharing Economy in 2017 - I...Dan Yoffe
Is the sharing economy finally dead? Lets take a deep look at the never-ending war between startups-gone-big and traditional businesses that seek to destroy them.
Originally presented at Hilton Tel Aviv, INFO Conference in May 2017 by Dan Yoffe
This document discusses the sharing economy and its impact. It defines the sharing economy as participants granting each other temporary access to underutilized assets without changing ownership, possibly for money. Key points made include:
- The sharing economy increases asset utilization and reduces transaction costs through platforms like Uber, Airbnb and Bitcoin.
- Emerging evidence shows the sharing economy competes with traditional industries like hotels and taxis, reducing their revenues and occupancy rates.
- Rating systems on sharing economy platforms help govern users but are not foolproof against fake reviews or rating manipulation.
- Over time, the sharing economy could potentially displace large organizations by substituting peer-to-peer transactions facilitated by platforms.
Strategic Management document for Airbnb submitted by Group 3.
Airbnb's vision is to create a world where people can belong anywhere. Their mission is to help people live in places instead of just traveling to them. A PESTLE analysis identifies political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors impacting Airbnb. Competitors include HomeAway, FlipKey, and OneFineStay. Airbnb follows a holacratic structure and offers affiliate programs. Recommendations include adding transportation and tour packages to develop new product lines that match customer needs.
Airbnb conducted a PESTLE analysis to understand the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors impacting their business. Politically, they must ensure hosts comply with housing laws. Economically, Airbnb benefits hosts and cities by offering cheaper accommodations than hotels. Socially, guests share experiences on social media which helps Airbnb grow through word-of-mouth. Technologically, Airbnb relies heavily on their app and website to operate. Legally, hosts must agree to terms ensuring compliance with regulations. Environmentally, studies show Airbnb has a smaller carbon footprint than hotels.
This document discusses Airbnb as an example of a niche market that has expanded significantly. It analyzes Airbnb's marketing strategies that have enabled this growth, including targeting customers seeking authentic experiences, using hashtags and video in campaigns, personalizing search results, and integrating additional travel services. The document also notes challenges like negative press over tax avoidance issues.
The document provides a PESTLE analysis of Airbnb, describing the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors affecting the company. It also outlines Airbnb's vision, mission, competitors using Porter's Five Forces model, product lines, growth strategy and organizational structure. Airbnb has experienced strong growth but also increasing losses as it spends heavily on expansion. Recommendations include developing new service offerings like transportation and tours to complement home rentals.
The idea is to create a discussion-like atmosphere among students. P.docxrtodd33
The idea is to create a discussion-like atmosphere among students. Please note that replies such as “I like what you said,” “That’s a good comment,” and “I disagree with your comment” do not count as a complete reply. You must substantiate these general statements by stating specific reasons that support your opinions, adding additional, relevant thoughts, and/or providing alternative ideas.
Replies to your peers should also use credible, external sources.
Each reply must use APA formatted in text citation and must have APA style references at the end of the post. Courtesy in any disagreement is expected; thus, personal attacks are not acceptable and will affect your grade.
References are required in the responses to the peers posts.
Post 1
Airbnb is a one of a kind business. Individuals offer to lease their homes, lofts, or rooms to outsiders. However, the organization has run into lawful issues. A few locations accessible to lease don't adhere to state lodging laws and regulations. In certain states, a proprietor should likewise live on the property to lawfully lease lofts for brief timeframes. Moreover, these locations are needed to pay lodging or vacationer charges when leasing their homes during the special seasons. Airbnb has confronted fines and court procedures. Among political influences influencing Airbnb's model, one should incorporate the risk of illegal intimidation, because of the way that Prague is a capital city with more than 1,000,000 occupants, and with a huge number of guests, there is the conceivable danger of psychological warfare, particularly from ISIS. Accordingly, individuals might be dissuaded from traveling, particularly to significant urban areas (Sedlacek, 2016).
Airbnb is vigorously influenced by the developing ubiquity of social media, which is essential to the sharing stage. The following most huge factor is the level of trust among clients. They are influenced by an expanding measure of single voyagers, which may impact the interest in room sharing. The stage is influenced by the number of individuals ready to burn through cash on "elective encounters," and by people who are wanting to travel. Furthermore, a receptiveness to encounter distinctive culture has a place among a portion of the more huge social variables. The organization is influenced by a maturing population, since the older are not as open to new encounters, and lean toward movement bundles and great inns. The stage is influenced by society's pattern toward a better lifestyle and a higher accentuation on wellbeing. Web availability, advancement, and an expansion in the utilization of technology have offered to ascend to stages, for example, Airbnb; thus, technology is exceptionally essential to the organization's tasks. Information technologies are as yet improving, and to stay serious, Airbnb needs to utilize every single accessible source. The quantity of individuals who use mobiles and portable applications is significantly rising, a.
AirBnB started in 2008 by allowing people to rent out spare rooms and homes to guests. It now lists over 600,000 properties worldwide. While it faces competitors, AirBnB has grown to a $10 billion valuation by leveraging controversies to gain publicity. It is also moving beyond just accommodations and aims to become a full travel brand, expanding into transportation, meetings, tours and activities to provide an end-to-end travel experience. This positions AirBnB to potentially dominate the travel distribution landscape in the future as the next major travel brand.
1. Clare Venner T00017894
The Phenomenon of the Sharing Economy and Airbnb
Clare Venner (T00017894)
TMGT 4090
Billy Collins
Thompson Rivers University
October 6, 2014
2. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB 1
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Sharing Economy 2
History of Airbnb 3
The Economics 4
Authenticity 6
Conclusion 7
References 9
3. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB 2
Introduction to the Sharing Economy
Here is a typical story you hear about the sharing economy: Jane needs a ride to a music
festival but lives a fifteen minute drive from downtown, which has limited parking and
inefficient public transportation system. No cabs are available and she's about to give up on
making it to the festival when she remembers the ride sharing service called 'Lyft' that recently
established itself in her city. She decides to download the app and check it out. Five minutes
later a guy drives up her driveway in a white sedan. Jane finds out the driver had just started his
shift (driving) after working all day at his full-time job at an insurance company. He appreciates
the extra cash but also enjoys meeting new people and helping them out. He doesn't keep a
pink moustache on the front of his car like most Lyft drivers because he feels it draws too much
attention. They arrive at the music festival, Jane tips the driver, and they part ways (likely to
never see each other again) after a brief but mutually beneficial relationship.
The anecdote is likely one of the many reasons why the "sharing economy" is still
considered a hippie movement by some and a yuppie San Francisco trend by others. Why
would a Lyft ride be important for the future of global business and travel? The answer: trust.
“Trust is the core of the new sharing economy—it is the movement to be more inclusive
and less distrusting; to be more democratized and less traditional; to help each other make
better decisions and waste less, and to harness the best aspects of technology to do so” (Gilpin,
2013). In a study done at the Aalto University School of Business it was reported that those who
adopt to Airbnb practices are willing to sacrifice regulation and safety (that are inherent in
traditional services such as hotels) in exchange for increased price value and an increase in
what is perceived as authentic experiences (Satama, 2014).
4. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB 3
The example previously mentioned (Lyft) is just one of the many services that have
either led to the formation of the sharing economy phenomenon or have risen from its
aftermath. Possibly one of the biggest sharing economy services that exist today and one that is
particularly relevant to in the tourism industry is Airbnb. According to founders Nathan
Blecharczyk and Brian Chesky, Airbnb was founded in August 2008 in San Francisco, California
and is a “trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique
accommodations around the world” (2012).
History of Airbnb
According to an article written by Tomio Geron and published in the business magazine
Forbes in 2013, the idea of Airbnb came to be when founder Chesky and friend Joe Gebbia,
recent Rhode Island School of Design graduates, thought they could make some extra cash by
housing attendees at an industrial design conference on air beds in their apartment. They
advertised the floor space on a website they created called Airbedandbreakfast.com and after
three people stayed with them they decided to max out their credit to build a bigger website
with more listings. They were simply trying to solve their own problems and once they did they
realized that other people wanted to partake as well (Geron, 2013).
According to the same Forbes article, the first year Airbnb was in operation it ended
with 100,000 guest nights booked, rose to 750,000 nights booked in 2010, passed two million in
2011, and in 2012 the number of nights booked fell in the range of twelve to fifteen million. The
company is profitable solely from taking a three percent cut from Airbnb hosts and a six to
twelve percent cut from travellers booking accommodations through the site (Geron, 2013).
5. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB 4
With the exception of a cleaning fee that some renters tack onto their listings, the six to twelve
percent charge is the only type of tax or service fee that users get charged. The three percent
charge for hosts is also the only sort of fee they pay—no tourist operation licensees of any sort
or lodging taxes are involved. This is one of the reasons Airbnb has become controversial in the
tourism industry. While many hotels charge hotel or resort taxes that go back into the upkeep
and cost of a hotel’s amenities or to the local destination marketing organization, Airbnb does
not identify itself as being under any one nation and so up until recent years has gotten away
with not charging government regulated taxes.
The Economics
According to Geron many critics deride that AirBnb and the like as short-term fads for
slow economic times based on an AirBnb report that found 42% of hosts use the income they
receive from renting out part of or entire properties to pay for everyday expenses rather than
using it as supplementary income for the extras. Economists seem to be baffled as to how they
can measure the activity of the sharing economy and sites like AirBnb. Arun Sundaraarjan is a
professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University who studies the phenomenon
and claims they will have to invent new economics to capture the impact of the sharing
economy. The largest question being asked by academics regarding the topic is whether this all
creates new value or just replaces existing businesses; furthermore, whether it positively
impacts a destination’s economy or takes away from key tourists dollars being spent. The
answer is both and presents itself as a classic case of creative destruction (Geron, 2013).
According to a UC Berkeley study, for every vehicle used by companies like Zipcar, nine to
6. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB 5
thirteen cars are being discarded by car owners. There may be a short-term negative impact on
the economy as a result of a person not buying a car but long-term economic efficiencies result
and that is ultimately good for everyone involved (Shaheen and Cohen, 2013). In 2012 Airbnb
began commissioning studies to be done to measure the economic impact of its business in
cities around the globe. San Francisco was the first city Airbnb evaluated and found that it
generates approximately $56 million in local spending and supports 430 jobs. Of the total
spending, $12.7 million goes directly to local host households (the rest is through other
spending such as attractions, transportation, food and beverage, travel trade, etc.). The average
San Francisco hotel guest visits for 3.5 days and spends $840 while the average San Francisco
Airbnb guest visits for 5.5 days and spends $1,045. In the same report it was also stated that
travellers tend to stay longer in a city because Airbnb rentals are typically cheaper than hotel
stays which means more money being spent in other areas. Airbnb also reported that fourteen
percent of their customers responded they would not have visited the city at all had it not been
for the listings found on Airbnb for unique accommodations at more economical rates. The
company also produced reports on New York City, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, London,
Edinburgh, Sydney, and Barcelona and found similar results. In Paris Airbnb complemented the
existing tourism industry in that 70 percent of Airbnb’s properties are located outside the
central hotel corridor and hotel occupancy and average daily rates have grown to record highs
since Airbnb flourished in the city. In Barcelona 4,000 hosts created special experiences for
170,000 travellers and these experiences resulted in 70% of those travellers reporting that
Airbnb made them more likely to return to Catalonia. Overall, it found that based on travellers
seeking “live like locals” experiences and many hosts being located away from typical tourism
7. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB 6
hubs, Airbnb guests tended to stay longer and spend more money than traditional tourists and
brought in more economic benefit to neighbourhoods and small businesses not typically visited
by tourists (Airbnb, 2012).
The economics surrounding Airbnb and the sharing economy are the reason it has
become such a controversial topic—everyone wants to benefit from it and the government (as
always) gets upset when they feel they should be profiting.
Authenticity
The phenomenon of Airbnb and the sharing economy goes back to trust and
authenticity being a primary motivation for travellers and how it is changing the way people
choose to travel. Travellers are forcing themselves to relearn how to trust strangers in order to
fulfill their travel needs and financially end up better off. When the benefits of allowing a
stranger to rent your home for a week outweigh the risks of it, many people are realizing a
social need to change how they act. Recent studies found that authenticity-seeking behaviour is
a primary motivation for turning to networks such as Airbnb instead of booking a standard
hotel room (Lang, 2011). Authenticity is an interesting term that has been a hot topic in tourism
for more than forty years. MacCannell (1976) argues that tourists are involved in a serious
pursuit of meaning and authenticity and that they are so dissatisfied with their own culture that
they seek authentic experiences in other places while Cohen (1988) wonders if authenticity is
even a relevant matter—if so, Wang (1999) argues there are many different types of
authenticity that travellers seek. Lang (2011) found in his study that users of Airbnb indicate
having had more “authentic” or “real” experiences (in Lang’s context authenticity being a “code
8. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB 7
for the unique and the singular, as opposed to the rational and the standardized”) than those of
the typical mass tourists they compare themselves to. MacCannell argues that tourist space is
divided into “front” and “back” regions and that what might be perceived as a “back” region is
actually a front that is staged. When it comes to booking a stay with Airbnb and staying in
someone’s private home the lines between front and back regions are blurred (Lang, 2011).
Tourism is a way to step outside of the structured, everyday life in attempt to experience
something both freer and truer to oneself (Wang, 1999). In this view, tourists engage in
activities like camping, hiking, and mountaineering but a key part is the ability to interact with
locals and have experiences that are true to those locals (Lang, 2011).
Conclusion
In a world where tourism experiences have become more important than the tourism
product themselves, it seems like the founders of Airbnb have created a gold mine that will
endure despite the hurdles they will soon have to jump through with governments and
regulations being imposed on them. Geron (2013) reports that Shervin Pishevar, a venture
capitalist at Menlo Ventures and an investor in Getaround, TaskRabbit, Uber and other startups
in the sharing economy space, believes these services will have a major impact on the
economics of cities. “This is much bigger than any specific app. This is a movement as important
as when the web browser came out” says Pishevar. It has already had a significant effect on
how many people book their travel plans in an attempt to gain higher price value, the
opportunity to have more authentic experiences, and will ultimately be forced to learn to trust
complete strangers in the process. Conventional ways of booking hotel rooms where security
9. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB 8
and standardization have in the past had high priorities are being let go of in a changing
economy that allows for a much more cost-efficient exchange of resources. Governments,
whether they like it or not, will in time be forced to change how they regulate companies
operating in the shared economy because the movement is already happening and it is here to
stay.
10. THE PHENOMENON OF THE SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB 9
References
Airbnb. (2012). Airbnb economic impact. Airbnb. Retrieved from https://www.airbnb.com/economic-
impact/
Cohen, Erik. 1988. “Authenticity and Commoditization in Tourism.” Annals of Tourism Research 15(1):
371-86.
Blecharcxyk, N. and Chesky, B. (2014). About us. Airbnb. Retrieved from
https://www.airbnb.ca/about/about-us
Geron, T. (2013, January 23). Airbnb and the unstoppable rise of the share economy. Forbes Magazine.
Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2013/01/23/airbnb-and-the-
unstoppable-rise-of-the-share-economy/
Gilpin, L. (2013). We-commerce: The sharing economy’s uncertain path to changing the world.
TechRepublic. Retrieved from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/we-commerce-the-sharing-
economys-uncertain-path-to-changing-the-world/
MacCannell Dean. 1976. The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Shocken Books.
Satama, S. (2014). Consumer adoption of access-based consumption services – Case Airbnb. Aalto
University, School of Business. Retrieved from
https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/bitstream/handle/123456789/13723/hse_ethesis_13682.pdf?sequenc
e=1
Shaheen, S. and Cohen, A. (2013). Innovative mobility carsharing outlook: Carsharing market overview,
analysis, and trends. Transportation and Sustainability Research Center – University of
California, Berkeley. Retrieved from
http://tsrc.berkeley.edu/sites/tsrc.berkeley.edu/files/Innovative%20Mobility%20Industry%20O
utlook_Carsharing_Spring%202013%20FINAL.pdf
Wang, Ning. 1999. “Rethinking Authenticity in Tourism Experience.” Annals of Tourism Research
26(2): 349-70.