Issues and challenges in implementing sharing economy in tourism: a triangulation study

Abstract

PurposeThe paper aims to analyse the issues and challenges in implementing and adopting the sharing economy concept in tourism. More specifically, the paper intends to identify critical factors for seeking possible pathways for achieving sustainable development of the Indian tourism industry.Design/methodology/approachThis research work has adopted the triangulation approach involving a twofold study concerning the perspectives of both service providers and customers. To cull deeper insight, an inductive content analysis was carried out to identify the critical factors influencing sharing economy in tourism and establish them as key research areas for further study.FindingsThe study identified seven critical influencing factors, namely, affordability, consciousness, cultural involvement, status quo biasness, socio-environmental responsiveness, regulatory supervision and technological drivers concerning sharing economy in tourism.Research limitations/implicationsThis study will expand the existing literature by exploring the critical factors relevant to the practice of sharing economy in the tourism industry. It will aid both marketers and policymakers to bridge the gap between what sharing economy concept demands, what consumers perceive and how service providers practise in reality. The present study limits its scope to qualitative analysis and geographical boundary within India. Further research with empirical study may be extended in future, with the research agendas presented in this paper.Originality/valueThe novelty of the study lies in the identification of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting the implementation of sharing economy in tourism. To delve deeper into the ground reality, this qualitative study corroborates the perspectives of both the demand and supply side, which is a unique effort by itself.