Sharing is caring, or is it? Home-sharing and Airbnb from the perspective of the hotel sector in Helsinki
Lappalainen, Jussi (2018)
Lappalainen, Jussi
Haaga-Helia ammattikorkeakoulu
2018
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201801291770
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201801291770
Tiivistelmä
Home-sharing as a part of the sharing economy has spread almost all over the world ef- fecting many ways on homeowners, tourists, workers, and on businesses. On the other side are the gainers of home-sharing, like Airbnb as the biggest operator in home-sharing and home owners who are now able to earn extra incomes. On the other side are the conventional operators, like hotels, which are now confronting the totally new business environment. There are almost as many different opinions of Airbnb ́s impact on hotels as there are studies about it – depending of the place and time of the research. The prior researches are mainly conducted on consumers and hosts side but the perspective of the hotel sector is much less researched. The aim of this study is to understand the hotel sector ́s views of home-sharing and Airbnb in Helsinki, and to gain insights into Airbnb ́s impact on it.
This study is conducted as a qualitative research utilizing the case study as the research strategy. Data gathering is done with the help of the semi-structured interviews. There are altogether nine interviews conducted. The thesis was written between February 2017 and February 2018.
The key findings of this study indicate that Airbnb has not had any impacts on the hotel sector in Helsinki in 2017. From the perspective of the hotels sector domestic travellers, bigger groups and majority of business travellers are still staying in hotels in Helsinki. Travellers staying in Airbnb accommodations are mainly younger, international, leisure tourists. These travellers have price, “live like a local” –factor, trendiness of the phenomenon, desire for an adventure and fully booked hotels as the main motivators for their stay in Airbnb. The main reasons that prevent travellers to stay in Airbnb in Helsinki are in turn safety and privacy concerns, fears and doubts of Airbnb, lack of services and the fact that the accommodation is someone ́s home. The hotel sector presents that Airbnb does not need currently any restrictions in Helsinki. The sector is also confident that Airbnb is not going to have any impact on its operations either in the near future.
The findings of this study indicate that the hotel sector in Helsinki is in generally relating to Airbnb in positive way. The sharing economy ́s blurring roles of the individuals exists also in Helsinki ́s hotel sector. Your work in hotel business does not exclude your participation in home-sharing. Airbnb has many positive impacts on tourism in Helsinki. It creates more unique accommodation alternatives for travellers and eases up the pressure to find accommodation during high seasons. It also makes hotels in Helsinki to shape up their operations and presence. According to the findings of this study Airbnb in Helsinki could benefit from centralized reception and maintenance services, whereas the hotels could study more about the strengths of Airbnb in Helsinki, like locality and more unique accommodations.
This study is conducted as a qualitative research utilizing the case study as the research strategy. Data gathering is done with the help of the semi-structured interviews. There are altogether nine interviews conducted. The thesis was written between February 2017 and February 2018.
The key findings of this study indicate that Airbnb has not had any impacts on the hotel sector in Helsinki in 2017. From the perspective of the hotels sector domestic travellers, bigger groups and majority of business travellers are still staying in hotels in Helsinki. Travellers staying in Airbnb accommodations are mainly younger, international, leisure tourists. These travellers have price, “live like a local” –factor, trendiness of the phenomenon, desire for an adventure and fully booked hotels as the main motivators for their stay in Airbnb. The main reasons that prevent travellers to stay in Airbnb in Helsinki are in turn safety and privacy concerns, fears and doubts of Airbnb, lack of services and the fact that the accommodation is someone ́s home. The hotel sector presents that Airbnb does not need currently any restrictions in Helsinki. The sector is also confident that Airbnb is not going to have any impact on its operations either in the near future.
The findings of this study indicate that the hotel sector in Helsinki is in generally relating to Airbnb in positive way. The sharing economy ́s blurring roles of the individuals exists also in Helsinki ́s hotel sector. Your work in hotel business does not exclude your participation in home-sharing. Airbnb has many positive impacts on tourism in Helsinki. It creates more unique accommodation alternatives for travellers and eases up the pressure to find accommodation during high seasons. It also makes hotels in Helsinki to shape up their operations and presence. According to the findings of this study Airbnb in Helsinki could benefit from centralized reception and maintenance services, whereas the hotels could study more about the strengths of Airbnb in Helsinki, like locality and more unique accommodations.