The Experience of Shared Accommodation for Tourists (AirBnB)

Nowadays, shared accommodation is attracting increasing attention from tourists and researchers. Some studies have centred the research on the business model, product status, and impact of shared accommodation.  There are a few related studies on the shared accommodation experience of tourists. Although the current trend of sharing accommodation abroad is spreading rapidly, there are still many issues that require greater attention and refinement by the operators and managers of the accommodations (Cunningham, and Weidmann).  If shared accommodation operators are armed with a good understanding of the modern traveler’s needs, their companies can create programs and products to satisfy all users, even those with different demands, thus providing an overall wonderful accommodation experience.

Shared accommodation as a hotel alternative has developed rapidly. According to Tussyadiah and Pesonen, the effects on shared accommodation are mainly due to three aspects of our industrialized world: the increase of the number of destinations available to tourists, the increase in the frequency of tourists going out, and the impact of AirBnb as a “disruptive innovation” on the traditional hotel industry — based on evidence from a survey Guttentag conducted on 800 AirBnB users that found nearly two thirds of participants choosing AirBnB as a hotel alternative over a hotel (Guttentag et al.). The article points out that AirBnB guests choose their House based on three aspects of shared accommodation: namely the location, owner and nature of the House. That is to say, in most cases, guests choose share accommodation in order to have a “family experience” during the trip.

In addition, Weed and others believe that tourists have a consistent perception of the pros and cons of both urban and rural host families in terms of geographical location, natural and cultural environment, characteristics of host families, and the interactions between the host and guests. (Weed) Facilities and sanitary conditions are the main factors that sway tourists’ negative perceptions of the urban housing experience. Other than that, the negative connotation of rural host families is influenced by many factors, such as geographical location and fundamental and supporting facilities.

From research, shared accommodation, different from the hotel standard accommodation, as a non-standard accommodation type has its uniqueness. It emphasizes the creation of a family atmosphere, human touches, and personalized experiences, which modern guests can find with AirBnB.

AirBnB, based in San Francisco, California, was founded in August 2008.  A housing sharing community, clients search for rental information through the official websites or mobile app and make an online booking; the host puts the information about the vacant house or the room on the platform for potential guests to find.  it includes the information about the basic physical condition of the house, the atmosphere of the house, and notices the guests should be alerted of before checking in. In the context of business, AirBnB, a pioneer and practitioner of the American shared accommodation economy, began by renting three inflatable mattresses.  11 years later, it operates in 191 countries, in 34,000 cities, and has more than 4 billion homes in all parts of the world. For their marketing, AirBnB has focused on expanding their reach in the Asia-Pacific region while consolidating its presence in Europe and North America.

There a number of factors and reasons that influence the AirBnB sharing experience.

  First, privacy violations factor greatly in Airbnb’s travel experience. AirBnB is part of a “new species”, but platforms that support it have grown.  However, in the absence of totally secure protection of privacy on the Internet today, users cannot trust that their personal information and privacy are not being shared.  With the development of science and technology, the appearance and existence of pinhole photography and other technologies have become more hidden. Consumers choose AirBnB because, compared with traditional hotels, shared accommodation is more personalized and the cost of infraction is relatively low; therefore, a way their privacy can be effectively protected is urgent in the hearts of consumers.

Secondly, the service standard system of shared accommodation is not perfect.  With the continuous development of society, consumers’ health awareness and service needs are getting higher and higher. Compared with the services of the traditional hotel industry, shared accommodation is not systematic in terms of health standards or overall service standards.  Due to the accommodation being provided by individuals and not a company, its aspects are personalized to the host. Effective evaluation and management methods of a House’s services are the main difficulties.

Finally, the regulation of shared accommodation lags behind the development of the market, which is the problem that governments all over the world are facing to varying degrees.  An effective monitoring method to track the occurrence of illegal and criminal activities that does not snub free development of the market and stimulation of the market’s innovative vitality is a need to be urgently considered. The new tourist housing culture inevitably brings challenges to traditional legal considerations. Considering the contradiction and unity between market and regulation, on the one hand, the vitality of emerging market patterns should be guaranteed, on the other hand, the rationality and effectiveness of regulation should be ensured.

There are countermeasures that can improve the sharing of lodging experience.  Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and basic functions of an accommodation, whether it is hotel accommodation or shared accommodation, the modern functional experience will be the general experience of its consumers. (Awdish). The aesthetic pleasure experience refers to the pleasure that visitors can get from the natural landscape, artistic culture, or social atmosphere of the residence and its surrounding environment through feeling.  This experience is possible for visitors, whether they are staying in hotel accommodation or shared accommodation. For tourists, the biggest difference between the two types of accommodation is the experience of interaction with their hosts. In hotel accommodation, consumers are interactive with the hotel staff, but as service staff of standardized accommodation, their service is professional and more experienced. As a non-standardized accommodation method, shared accommodation offers more casual properties and landlords, with no uniform regulations on it.

Shared accommodation homeowners need to provide its customers with clean tidy and complete facilities, decent service, and safe and reliable accommodation. This is the basis for tourists to have a good experience with this type of accommodation, along with the aesthetically pleasing experience, interpersonal interaction and daily life experience, and further formed on this basis. On the basis of improving the modern function of shared accommodation, owners should integrate modern resources to set a unique housing scene, so that guests can obtain an easygoing, relaxed housing experience.  The “home atmosphere” of this type of accommodation provides tourists warmth and comfort with enthusiasm and hospitality, where the value of emotional energy is immense. Through positive interpersonal interactions between host and guest, and providing tourists with aesthetic pleasure, modern function, and the home life experience, shared accommodation can provide a wonderful housing experience for all travellers.

Awdish, Rana Lee Adawi. “The Sherpa Meets Maslow: Medicine And The Hierarchy Of Needs”. Patient Experience Journal, vol 5, no. 1, 2018, pp. 5-6. The Beryl Institute, doi:10.35680/2372-0247.1302.

Cunningham, Kathleen Gallagher, and Nils B. Weidmann. “Shared Space: Ethnic Groups, State Accommodation, And Localized Conflict1”. International Studies Quarterly, vol 54, no. 4, 2010, pp. 1035-1054. Oxford University Press (OUP), doi:10.1111/j.1468-2478.2010.00625.x.

Guttentag, Daniel et al. “Why Tourists Choose Airbnb: A Motivation-Based Segmentation Study”. Journal Of Travel Research, vol 57, no. 3, 2017, pp. 342-359. SAGE Publications, doi:10.1177/0047287517696980.

Tussyadiah, Iis P., and Florian Zach. “Identifying Salient Attributes Of Peer-To-Peer Accommodation Experience”. Journal Of Travel & Tourism Marketing, vol 34, no. 5, 2016, pp. 636-652. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/10548408.2016.1209153.

Weed, Mike. “A Grounded Theory Of The Policy Process For Sport And Tourism”. Sport In Society, vol 8, no. 2, 2005, pp. 356-377. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/17430430500087815.