Booking experiences on sharing economy platforms: an exploration of tourists’ motivations and constraints

ABSTRACT

The tourism sector is being currently characterized by the introduction of tours and activities provided by sharing economy platforms (e.g. Airbnb) and non-professional local guides. Since this recent introduction, no study has so far explored what motivates and constrains travellers to book this type of experiences. This paper contributes to fill this gap by investigating travellers’ motivations and constraints for choosing these experiences over traditional tour providers. Adopting a qualitative approach, Italian prospective travellers’ perspectives were explored through semi-structured interviews. The findings confirm the importance of authenticity, social interaction, location, and trust as factors influencing the use of sharing economy tourism services, beyond accommodations. When considering to choose peer-to-peer guiding, travellers are also motivated by novelty, quality and personal interest, logistics, and the social dimension of sharing economy philosophy. Sharing economy use constraints such as product scarcity, effort and independence expectancy prevent the choice of peer-to-peer tours and activities. Lack of awareness and distribution, timing, and lack of economic benefits also constrain the choice of these experiences through their platforms. Recommendations for marketers and operators are made to improve the promotion and delivery of tours and activities by sharing economy platforms.

KEYWORDS:

• Tours and activities
• sharing economy
• motivations
• constraints
• Italy
• Airbnb

Acknowledgments

Jessica Mei Pung and Luca Sini gratefully acknowledge Sardinia Regional Government for the financial support of their PhD scholarship (P.O.R. Sardegna F.S.E. Operational Programme of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, European Social Fund 2014–2020 – Axis III Education and training, Thematic goal 10, Priority of investment 10ii, Specific goal 10.5). Luca Sini also acknowledges University of Sassari for being assigned this scholarship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.