the bitter truth of home sharing economy.
more than often the legitimate tourist accommodation industry is asked, if the home sharing economy had impacted the industry. what is your take on it. the industry should adapt, change and evolve with it, or risk being phased out by disruptors.
the hotel industry is arguably one of the oldest industry in the world, and nested within the bigger world of tourism, it plays an important role of complementing tourism, be it as an essential part, or an even more important role of delivering satisfaction and tourism experience to the guests. so how is that different from home sharing models?
let’s start with home sharing. how did it begin. do not however, be mistaken, the tourism industry is not against progress, development or techlogical industry distruptors, there is a need for progress, there is an unevitable fact of change. the popular term associated with the home sharing model often used is none other than bed & breakfast (b&b). it is essentially defined as accommodation with breakfast usually of small number of rooms, and usually with hosts in the home.
A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, with six being the average. In addition, a B&B usually has the hosts living in the house.*
* source wikipedia
it is not a surprise that the definition above is no longer accurate with current practices of the home sharing (b&b) economy. simply because current home sharing stakeholders had taken a step above (not ahead), in a desperate move to close gaps with genuine tourist accommodation providers, recognising that that is needed to gain economical traction. let’s see another part of the definition:
B&Bs and guest houses may be operated as either a secondary source of income or a primary occupation. Often the owners themselves prepare the breakfast and clean the rooms, but some bed and breakfasts hire staff for cleaning or cooking. Properties with hired professional management are uncommon (unlike inns or hotels) but may exist if the same owner operates multiple B&Bs.
* source wikipedia
now let’s be realisitic about it now. based on the above quotes, where does the home sharing economy stand at this time. popular home sharing platform airbnb claims that it creates a “healthy travel world, that is local, authentic, diverse, inclusive and sustainable”.
Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where people can belong through healthy travel that is local, authentic, diverse, inclusive and sustainable. Airbnb uniquely leverages technology to economically empower millions of people around the world to unlock and monetize their spaces, passions and talents to become hospitality entrepreneurs.
* source airbnb
local. authentic. diverse. inclusive. sustainable. these are all admirable descriptive words, many of which rightfully fits in into vision of tourism stakeholders. how will this all be achieved by airbnb, when it does not control or manage listings and hosts, we do not know.