The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on peer-to-peer accommodation businesses: The case of Airbnb

Abstract

Abstract Aim/purpose – This study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on peer-to-peer accommodation (P2PA), investigate the potential factors related to organizational resilience based on resilience resources and consumer threat response frameworks, and revisit the tourism disaster management framework. Design/methodology/approach – The operational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were analyzed in relation to host professionalism (organizational resilience) and property exposure to social contact (consumer threat response) for 23,334 properties available via the Airbnb platform. A regression model was proposed to estimate the impact of government policies on P2PA business performance. Findings – The revenue, the occupancy rate, and the number of active properties decreased by –59.1%, –41.3%, and –20.4%, respectively. Professional hosts and properties offering less social contact showed lower declines in revenue and occupancy rate and their proportion in properties that survived 12 months after the pandemic breakout was higher. The consecutive waves of COVID-19 infections created a need to include a repetitive exchange of emergency and intermediate stages before the recovery stage could be started. Research implications/limitations – For P2PA hosts, this study could serve as a useful contribution to shaping their tactics given the COVID-19 pandemic continuation or similar disaster to happen in the future. For governments or local authorities, this study should contribute to a better understanding of the impacts of various types of restrictions on accommodation segment performance. The limitation of this research is that it refers to big cities, extending it to rural destinations might reveal valuable insights. Additionally, it would be interesting to compare P2PA performance with other segments of the hospitality sector (e.g., hotels). Originality/value/contribution – This study contributes to the knowledge of tourism disaster management, organizational resilience, and consumer threat response frameworks. It reveals potential factors related to property resilience in the face of disease-related disasters and proposes a revised framework for tourism disaster management.