Interferences generated on the well-being of local communities by the activity of online platforms for tourist accommodation

Abstract

The tourism sector can boost the economic and social development of entire cities while simultaneously triggering critical challenges to its own sustainability. Specifically, the additional stress imposed on residential neighborhoods due to the increasing number of tourist accommodations mediated online can compromise the social sustainability of tourism. This study focuses on the city of Barcelona (Spain) to shed light on crucial aspects of the impact of peer-to-peer accommodation platforms upon the well-being of its residents. A key contribution is that this work uses for the first time in tourism the Human Scale Development approach. Among the many consequential findings, of particular interest to economists and policy-makers are the fact that there is no economic sustainability without social sustainability, and that guaranteeing social cohesion and the permanence of a fixed resident population in tourist neighborhoods is essential. One additional breakthrough is the participants’ strong viewpoint that a major roadblock to any progress is the lack of adequate regulation. In their opinion, any satisfactory legal framework should use participatory mechanisms to incorporate the neighbors’ feedback over issues that affect their lifestyle. Last, the importance of establishing cooperation mechanisms between institutions, tourists, neighbors and businesses was also forcefully emphasized.