Are locals ready to cross a new frontier in tourism? Factors of experiential P2P orientation in tourism

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the profile of locals willing to meet tourists in a context of experience interchange peer-to-peer (P2P) and identifies factors that drive such contact in an authentic setting of shared passions. This is a first step in creating the experiential P2P subindustry that academia, innovators and experts/trend-watchers have been waiting for over a decade. The data was collected using the ‘snowball’ sampling technique among locals from Mallorca (Spain). The results indicate that passion (within idle capacity) for the activity is a central factor to take into consideration in experiential P2P activity, together with other personal (self-perception of managerial and other emotional and communication skills) factors. In addition, the expressed disinterest in becoming experiential P2P providers suggests that there are factors of self-image (especially regarding managerial skills and entrepreneurial attitude) that play a decisive role in the democratization of tourism – an unexplored area in tourism literature.

KEYWORDS:

• Authenticity
• destination management
• host–guest relations
• tourism experience
• sharing economy

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Magdalena Cladera, Abel Lucena and Victor Troster for their contribution to this paper. Francina Orfila-Sintes acknowledges the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) for its support to the project ECO2017-86305-C4-1-R (AEI/ERDF, EU).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI); European Regional Development Fund.