Sharing Economy in Culinary Tourism
Paavilainen, Tiia (2020)
Paavilainen, Tiia
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020052012654
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020052012654
Tiivistelmä
The topic of this thesis is sharing economy, and especially Airbnb Experiences. American and Finnish food cultures in Airbnb Experiences were compared in the research. The sharing economy is a trend that has become to the tourism market to stay. Customers’ values of authenticity lead them to expect more local products and services than before. Food Walks are services in Airbnb Experiences website, where local expert takes a small group of people on a walking tour in a neighbourhood while customers are tasting local delicatessens. The research is done for University of Lapland project “Sharing Economy in Tourism.”
The research was conducted by interviewing three Airbnb Food Walk hosts and observing two food walks, both in America and in Finland. The research methodology was qualitative, and the data collection methods were participative observation and interviews. The main concepts of the research are sharing economy, Airbnb Experiences, Experience Design and culinary tourism.
The research method used to analyse the results is benchmarking. The method is introduced in the methodology part. The benchmarking was limited to Helsinki, Finland and Santa Barbara, the U.S.A. The theoretical background was collected from e-books, journals and academic articles. The information was grouped in themes using the thematizing method.
The result of the thesis showed that there are only few differences between the American and Finnish Food Walk products. However, cultural differences and the characteristics of the American and Finnish host differ.
Keywords sharing economy, Airbnb, Airbnb Experiences, food culture, culinary tourism The topic of this thesis is sharing economy, and especially Airbnb Experiences
The research was conducted by interviewing three Airbnb Food Walk hosts and observing two food walks, both in America and in Finland. The research methodology was qualitative, and the data collection methods were participative observation and interviews. The main concepts of the research are sharing economy, Airbnb Experiences, Experience Design and culinary tourism.
The research method used to analyse the results is benchmarking. The method is introduced in the methodology part. The benchmarking was limited to Helsinki, Finland and Santa Barbara, the U.S.A. The theoretical background was collected from e-books, journals and academic articles. The information was grouped in themes using the thematizing method.
The result of the thesis showed that there are only few differences between the American and Finnish Food Walk products. However, cultural differences and the characteristics of the American and Finnish host differ.
Keywords sharing economy, Airbnb, Airbnb Experiences, food culture, culinary tourism