Top

Published in:

2024 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

6. Airbnb Hosts and Their Contribution to Sustainability Through Entrepreneurship and Consumption: Research Gaps and an Exploratory Study in Nordic Tourist Destinations

Authors : Birgit Leick, Susanne Gretzinger, Jie Zhang, Farhana Yeasmin, Vera Vilhjálmsdóttir, Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir

Published in: Tourism Entrepreneurship

Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

The entrepreneurship of private households and incumbent companies operating as hosts on the Airbnb platform plays an important role in tourism development. Despite Airbnb’s gain in importance for tourism, the literature highlights its manifold negative externalities, which impair the achievement of sustainability goals. However, the platform also contributes to sustainable rural development through facilitating the micro-entrepreneurship of, and consumption and investment by, rural dwellers through income earned on the platform. This chapter explores this link for Nordic rural regions in a two-step approach: firstly, a literature review will elaborate three research gaps in the extant literature about Airbnb, Airbnb hosts, sustainability, and rural tourism. Subsequently, and based upon this review, an exploratory case study of Nordic Airbnb hosts in three rural case regions (North Iceland, Iceland; Northern Jutland, Denmark; and Nordland, Norway) will highlight the link between Airbnb-based entrepreneurship and local consumption and investment empirically. The case study utilises a sample of 64 Airbnb hosts, gathered through phone surveys in 2022 in the selected case regions. The chapter concludes by summarising the obvious, yet underresearched link between Airbnb hosts and sustainable development in rural tourist destinations that emphasises the entrepreneurial potential and redistributive effect of hosts on the digital platform.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

previous chapter Service Quality, Reputation and Performance: Prioritisation for Sustainable Growth and Innovation

next chapter Relational Work in Rural Tourism Enterprising: Navigating In-between the Formal and the Informal

Abrate, G., Sainaghi, R., & Mauri, A. G. (2022). Dynamic pricing in Airbnb: Individual versus professional hosts. Journal of Business Research, 141, 191–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.12.012CrossRef

Acs, Z. J., & Szerb, L. (2007). Entrepreneurship, economic growth and public policy. Small Business Economics, 28, 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-006-9012-3CrossRef

Adie, B. A., de Bernardi, C., & Amore, A. (2022). Reframing rurality: The impact of Airbnb on second-home communities in Wales and Sweden. In A. Farmaki, D. Ioannidis, & S. Kladou (Eds.), Peer-to-peer accommodation and community resilience: Implications for sustainable development (pp. 81–93). CABI.CrossRef

Álvarez-Herranz, A., & Macedo-Ruíz, E. (2021). An evaluation of the three pillars of sustainability in cities with high Airbnb presence: A case study of the city of Madrid. Sustainability, 13(6), 3220. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063220CrossRef

Aparicio, S., Turro, A., & Noguera, M. (2020). Entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship in social, sustainable, and economic development: Opportunities and challenges for future research. Sustainability, 12(21), 8958. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12218958CrossRef

Belk, R. (2014). You are what you can access: Sharing and collaborative consumption online. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1595–1600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.10.001CrossRef

Bredvold, R., & Skålén, P. (2016). Lifestyle entrepreneurs and their identity construction: A study of the tourism industry. Tourism Management, 56, 96–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.03.023CrossRef

Caldicott, R. W., von der Heidt, T., Scherrer, P., Muschter, S., & Canosa, A. (2020). Airbnb–exploring triple bottom line impacts on community. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 14(2), 205–223. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-07-2019-0134CrossRef

Casamatta, G., Giannoni, S., Brunstein, D., & Jouve, J. (2022). Host type and pricing on Airbnb: Seasonality and perceived market power. Tourism Management, 88, 104433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104433CrossRef

Cheng, M., & Jin, X. (2019). What do Airbnb users care about? An analysis of online review comments. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 76, 58–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.04.004CrossRef

Cheng, M., Chen, G., Wiedmann, T., Hadjikakou, M., Xu, L., & Wang, Y. (2020). The sharing economy and sustainability—assessing Airbnb’s direct, indirect and induced carbon footprint in Sydney. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 28(8), 1083–1099. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1720698CrossRef

Cheng, M., Houge Mackenzie, S., & Degarege, G. A. (2022). Airbnb impacts on host communities in a tourism destination: An exploratory study of stakeholder perspectives in Queenstown, New Zealand. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(5), 1122–1140. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1802469CrossRef

Chung, Y., & Sarnikar, S. (2022). Understanding host marketing strategies on Airbnb and their impact on listing performance: A text analytics approach. Information Technology and People, 35(7), 2075–2097. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-10-2020-0718CrossRef

Cocola-Gant, A., Jover, J., Carvalho, L., & Chamusca, P. (2021). Corporate hosts: The rise of professional management in the short-term rental industry. Tourism Management Perspectives, 40, 100879. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2021.100879CrossRef

Eisenhardt, K. M., & Graebner, M. E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.24160888CrossRef

Fairlie, R. W., & Fossen, F. M. (2018). Opportunity versus necessity entrepreneurship: Two components of business creation. CESifo Working Paper Series No. 6854. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3140340

Falk, M., Larpin, B., & Scaglione, M. (2019). The role of specific attributes in determining prices of Airbnb listings in rural and urban locations. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 83, 132–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.04.023CrossRef

Farmaki, A., & Stergiou, D. P. (2019). Escaping loneliness through Airbnb host-guest interactions. Tourism Management, 74, 331–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.04.006CrossRef

Ferreri, M., & Sanyal, R. (2018). Platform economies and urban planning: Airbnb and regulated deregulation in London. Urban Studies, 55(15), 3353–3368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098017751982CrossRef

Fischer, S. L., Pahus, H. S., & Bager, A. (2019). What motivates people to become Airbnb hosts—Do we know enough? Research in Hospitality Management, 9(2), 83–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/22243534.2019.1689697CrossRef

Fudurich, G., & MacKay, K. (2020). Greening the guest bedroom: Exploring hosts’ perspectives on environmental certification for Airbnb. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 20(4), 423–434. https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358420911987CrossRef

Garrod, B., Zhao, A. L., & Koenig-Lewis, N. (2023). A greener way to stay: The role of perceived sustainability in generating loyalty to Airbnb. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 110, 103432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103432CrossRef

Giacomin, O., Janssen, F., Guyot, J. L., & Lohest, O. (2011). Opportunity and/or necessity entrepreneurship? The impact of the socio-economic characteristics of entrepreneurs. MPRA Paper. 15 March 2011. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/29506/

Gibbs, C., Guttentag, D., Gretzel, U., Yao, L., & Morton, J. (2018). Use of dynamic pricing strategies by Airbnb hosts. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(1), 2–20. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-09-2016-0540CrossRef

Griggio, C., & Oxenswärdh, A. (2021). Human capital and sustainability challenges for Airbnb bed and breakfast lifestyle entrepreneurs. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 21(3), 286–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250.2021.1927828CrossRef

Gurran, N., & Phibbs, P. (2017). When tourists move in: How should urban planners respond to Airbnb? Journal of the American Planning Association, 83(1), 80–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2016.1249011CrossRef

Karlsson, L., & Dolnicar, S. (2016). Someone’s been sleeping in my bed. Annals of Tourism Research, 58, 159–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2016.02.006CrossRef

Lampinen, A., & Cheshire, C. (2016). Hosting via Airbnb: Motivations and financial assurance in monetized network hospitality. Proceeding of the 2016 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1669–1680. https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858092

Lane, B. (1994). What is rural tourism? Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2(1–2), 7–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669589409510680CrossRef

Lane, B., Kastenholz, E., & Carneiro, M. J. (2022). Rural tourism and sustainability: A special issue, review and update for the opening years of the twenty-first century. Sustainability, 14(10), 6070. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106070CrossRef

Larpin, B., Mabillard, J., Scaglione, M., Favre, P., & Schegg, R. (2019). An analysis of regional developments of Airbnb in Switzerland: Insights into growth patterns of a P2P platform. In J. Pesonen & J. Neidhardt (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism. Proceedings of the international conference (pp. 92–103). Springer.

Leick, B., Gretzinger, S., & Makkonen, T. (2022a). Introduction to the rural enterprise economy. In B. Leick, S. Gretzinger, & T. Makkonen (Eds.), The rural enterprise economy (pp. 3–16). Routledge.

Leick, B., Kivedal, B. K., Eklund, M. A., & Vinogradov, E. (2022b). Exploring the relationship between Airbnb and traditional accommodation for regional variations of tourism markets. Tourism Economics, 28(5), 1258–1279. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816621990173CrossRef

Leick, B., Gunnarsdóttir, G. Þ., Vilhjálmsdóttir, V., Gretzinger, S., Borowiecki, K. J., Mitchell, S. B., Vinogradov, E., Fabritius, M. K., & Zhang, J. (2023). The impact of Airbnb hosts on Arctic local economies: Consumption patterns, entrepreneurship and sustainability. Project report for the Nordic Council of Ministers (Arctic Cooperation Programme, Grant number A81201). University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø.

Leick, B., Kivedal, B. K., & Eklund, M. A. (2024a). Complement or competition? Airbnb-based tourism and local housing markets in four Norwegian cities. In F. Kock, A. Lindgreen & S. Markovic (Eds.), Research handbook on tourism, complexity, and uncertainty (pp. 190–207). Edward Elgar.

Leick, B., Mitchell, S. B., Borowiecki, K. J., Vinogradov, E., Gunnarsdóttir, G. Þ., Zhang, J., Gretzinger, S., & Vilhjálmsdóttir, V. (2024b). The performance and professionalisation of Airbnb hosts in rural regions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 118, 103680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103680CrossRef

Leung, X. Y., Xue, L., & Wen, H. (2019). Framing the sharing economy: Toward a sustainable ecosystem. Tourism Management, 71, 44–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.09.021CrossRef

Levesque, M., & Minniti, M. (2006). The effect of aging on entrepreneurial behavior. Journal of Business Venturing, 21(2), 177–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2005.04.003CrossRef

Li, S., Fong, L. H. N., Zhang, C. X., & Chen, M. (2020). Investigating the motivations and constraints of Chinese peer-to-peer accommodation hosts. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33, 305–326. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2020-0551CrossRef

Lutz, C., & Newlands, G. (2018). Consumer segmentation within the sharing economy: The case of Airbnb. Journal of Business Research, 88, 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.03.019CrossRef

Mahmuda, S., Sigler, T., Corcoran, J., & Knight, E. (2022). Airbnb and micro-entrepreneurship in regional economies: Lessons from Australia. Geographical Research, 60(2), 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12506CrossRef

Markusen, A. (2007). A consumption base theory of development: An application to the rural cultural economy. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 36(1), 9–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1068280500009412CrossRef

Midgett, C., Bendickson, J. S., Muldoon, J., & Solomon, S. J. (2018). The sharing economy and sustainability: A case for Airbnb. Small Business Institute Journal, 13(2), 51–71.

Morales-Pérez, S., Garay-Tamajón, L., & Troyano-Gontá, X. (2022). Beyond the big touristic city: Nature and distribution of Airbnb in regional destinations in Catalonia (Spain). Current Issues in Tourism, 25(20), 3381–3394. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1780201CrossRef

Naldi, L., Nilsson, P., Westlund, H., & Wixe, S. (2021). Amenities and new firm formation in rural areas. Journal of Rural Studies, 85, 32–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.05.023CrossRef

Nieuwland, S., & Van Melik, R. (2020). Regulating Airbnb: How cities deal with perceived negative externalities of short-term rentals. Current Issues in Tourism, 23(7), 811–825. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2018.1504899CrossRef

Paulauskaite, D., Powell, R., Coca-Stefaniak, J. A., & Morrison, A. M. (2017). Living like a local: Authentic tourism experiences and the sharing economy. International Journal of Tourism Research, 19(6), 619–628. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2134CrossRef

Qian, H., Wu, J., & Zheng, S. (2023). Entrepreneurship, sustainability, and urban development. Small Business Economics, 62, 463–469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-023-00761-7CrossRef

Rosalina, P. D., Dupre, K., & Wang, Y. (2021). Rural tourism: A systematic literature review on definitions and challenges. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 47, 134–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2021.03.001CrossRef

Serrano, L., Ariza-Montes, A., Nader, M., Sianes, A., & Law, R. (2021). Exploring preferences and sustainable attitudes of Airbnb green users in the review comments and ratings: A text mining approach. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(7), 1134–1152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103432CrossRef

Sperling, G. (2015). How Airbnb combats middle class income stagnation. Working paper. Retrieved March 2, 2016, from MiddleClassReport-MT-061915_r1.pdf (stgeorgeutah.com)

Sthapit, E., & Jiménez-Barreto, J. (2018). Exploring tourists’ memorable hospitality experiences: An Airbnb perspective. Tourism Management Perspectives, 28, 83–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2018.08.006CrossRef

Strømmen-Bakhtiar, A., Vinogradov, E., Kvarum, M. K., & Antonsen, K. R. (2020). Airbnb contribution to rural development: The case of a remote Norwegian municipality. International Journal of Innovation in the Digital Economy (IJIDE), 11(2), 31–46. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJIDE.2020040103CrossRef

Sun, X., Xu, H., Köseoglu, M. A., & Okumus, F. (2020). How do lifestyle hospitality and tourism entrepreneurs manage their work–life balance? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 85, 102359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.102359CrossRef

Sung, E., Kim, H., & Lee, D. (2018). Why do people consume and provide sharing economy accommodation? A sustainability perspective. Sustainability, 10(6), 2072. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10062072CrossRef

Vaishar, A., & Šťastná, M. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural tourism in Czechia preliminary considerations. Current Issues in Tourism, 25(2), 187–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1839027CrossRef

Verheul, I., Stel, A. V., & Thurik, R. (2006). Explaining female and male entrepreneurship at the country level. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 18(2), 151–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985620500532053CrossRef

Vinogradov, E., Leick, B., & Assadi, D. (2021). Introduction. In E. Vinogradov, B. Leick, & D. Assadi (Eds.), Digital entrepreneurship and the sharing economy (pp. 1–12). Routledge.CrossRef

Wachsmuth, D., & Weisler, A. (2018). Airbnb and the rent gap: Gentrification through the sharing economy. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 50(6), 1147–1170. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X1877803CrossRef

Yeasmin, F. (2023). Uncovering the micro-entrepreneurial motivation of Airbnb hosts in rural Arctic sustainable tourism: An exploratory case study. [Master thesis. University of South-Eastern Norway].

Zhang, T., Bufquin, D., & Lu, C. (2019). A qualitative investigation of microentrepreneurship in the sharing economy. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 79, 148–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.01.010CrossRef

Title: Airbnb Hosts and Their Contribution to Sustainability Through Entrepreneurship and Consumption: Research Gaps and an Exploratory Study in Nordic Tourist Destinations
Authors: Birgit Leick
Susanne Gretzinger
Jie Zhang
Farhana Yeasmin
Vera Vilhjálmsdóttir
Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
Book: Tourism Entrepreneurship
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-61248-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-61249-7

Copyright Year: 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61249-7_6