MANAGING THE SHARING ECONOMY IN TIMES OF CRISIS. THE CASE OF AIRBNB

Abstract

Globalization, the rise of the internet and the online market, as well as the expansion of mobility, have contributed to the exponential growth of tourism, and Europe can claim global supremacy when it comes to international tourism. The rate of growth in the number of tourists has accelerated over the last ten years thanks to the flexibility of travelling modalities, the openness to tourism of many countries and, last but not least, the emergence of collaborative tourism, which is a worthwhile alternative to classic tourism. The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which broke out in February 2020, has had a disastrous impact on the entire tourism industry. Due to this pandemic, domestic and international travel has been disrupted enough to have an immediate and fundamental impact on tourism and all related activities. The pandemic has changed the way people manifest themselves and paved the way for trends such as contactless technology, working from home, high standards of hygiene, domestic travel, and holidays with a small number of people. As a result, the trends already existing in the market before the outbreak of the pandemic, which were reshaping the idea of tourism, have been reinforced even more now. These include digitalization, durable and sustainable consumption, a growing demand for travel booked through platforms and, last but not least, the desire for personalized and original experiences. In this paper we aim to highlight the dimension of the Airbnb, one of the most successful sharing economy platforms, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting in what manner the advances of the digital world have interacted with the challenges, restrictions and opportunities of the recent pandemic, economic and political crises.