Co-creating cultural heterotopic spaces in Airbnb

Abstract

This article considers the concept of heterotopia in shared tourism accommodation. Based on an auto-ethnographic account and interviews with 27 hosts and guests of Airbnb shared spaces and their Airbnb listings, the article explains how a home with mixed statuses of accommodation and homeyness can provide transitional experiences that link the ordinary and extra-ordinary, order and disorder and conflicting cultural meanings that impact social interaction. We find that Airbnb spaces contain layers of cultural complexity that shape how hosts and guests co-create their exchanges and transition through the space. Applying the concept of heterotopia to a site that disrupts taken-for-granted notions about the ordering of space offers a dynamic view of how the peer-to-peer accommodation experience is co-created. We also develop implications for consumption and service provision within the sharing economy.