Constructing new urban tourism space through Airbnb

Abstract

Visitors of urban destinations are increasingly leaving the confines of tourist zones. They venture into residential neighborhoods and stay at private apartments, a phenomenon discussed as ‘new urban tourism’. While this ‘new’ tourist behavior has already been well documented in academic research, the emergence of tourist areas in residential neighborhoods and the role that Airbnb hosts and their place framings play in the social construction of new tourist sites have received less attention. Building upon existing research on urban place making, representations and performances are discussed as two theoretical perspectives that prove helpful in explaining how residential neighborhoods become significant for visitors. These theoretical considerations are then translated into an empirical research design. Airbnb listings located in the residential neighborhood of Reuterkiez in Berlin-Neukölln are collected and analyzed in order to understand how Airbnb hosts reframe the notion of their neighborhood. These listings serve as digital representations of Reuterkiez, contributing to the area’s discursive construction. A qualitative analysis of selected listings revealed a set of strategies that Airbnb hosts apply in order to reinterpret ordinary places and facilities and add ‘new’ meanings, thus transforming their neighborhood into a place of significance for visitors. Hosts encourage place-specific performances that support this transformation and enable visitors to transgress the boundaries between tourist and resident. Sharing-platforms thus become a new means for ‘ordinary’ people to engage in place-making processes. However, Airbnb hosts’ power in that process is two-fold. They not only invest discursively in the making of tourist places but also materially, through the rooms and apartments they provide. As such, the platform Airbnb has an immediate effect on the construction of new urban tourism areas.