Tourist environment and online reputation as a generator of added value in the sharing economy: The case of Airbnb in urban and sun- and-beach holiday destinations

Abstract

Despite the importance of collaborative accommodation in practically every tourist destination, to date the majority of studies have focused on large cities and urban destinations. This article distinguishes the factors that explain the added value of Airbnb properties, differentiating between urban and sun-and-beach holiday destinations. To do this, nine destinations from one of the most important European tourism regions have been studied using a hedonic pricing model that includes some variables related to the characteristics of the properties and others that define the online reputation of the hosts and properties and the tourism environment. The results reveal that the sharing economy fosters the emergence of private rentals, expanding the overall size of the accommodation market with some clear differences between the two types of tourist destinations, which emphasize the idea that the decisions made by stakeholders should be considered from a local perspective.