FACULTAD DE TURISMO Y FINANZAS GRADO EN TURISMO Effects of Shared Economy on Tourism in Seville (Spain): The Case of Airbnb Trabajo Fin de Grado presentado por CRISTINA CADENAS ALAMINOS, siendo el tutor del mismo el profesor JOAQUÍN JOSÉ FERNÁNDEZ DOMÍNGUEZ Vº. Bº. del Tutor Alumna: D. Joaquín José Fernández Domínguez Dª. Cristina Cadenas Alaminos Sevilla, Junio de 2017 GRADO EN TURISMO FACULTAD DE TURISMO Y FINANZAS TRABAJO FIN DE GRADO CURSO ACADÉMICO [2016-2017] TÍTULO: Effects of Shared Economy on Tourism in Seville (Spain): The Case of Airbnb AUTORA: CRISTINA CADENAS ALAMINOS TUTOR: JOAQUÍN JOSÉ FERNÁNDEZ DOMÍNGUEZ DEPARTAMENTO: FILOLOGÍA INGLESA (LENGUA INGLESA) ÁREA DE CONOCIMIENTO: FILOLOGÍA INGLESA RESUMEN: Shared economy has now become the buzzword and information technology is the fundamental force lying behind it. As information technology represents a major commodity in human lives, it also affects the tourism industry considerably. It is not only individuals that are directly benefitting from the shared economy framework, but the tourism industry itself is taking great advantage of this favourable situation in which technology is playing a most decisive role in all walks of human life. Internet has evidently become the facilitator in the matchmaking between the demand and supply sides of tourism. Spain is one the most important tourist countries in Europe as well as in the world, and tourism shapes a key driving force in Spanish economy. Seville, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Spain, with a vast history and culture in the background, grants us with a perfect example to test the potential benefits that shared economy and social websites such as Airbnb can bring to the tourism industry. The present work aims to make a research-based contribution to the current debate on the role of shared economy in Seville’s tourism. To do so, we will take the social website Airbnb as a case study to explore in detail how shared economy may influence the tourist industry in Seville. How are individuals taking benefit from new social websites? How is the synergy between shared economy, information technology and the internet affecting the culture of tourism in general? What are the pros and cons of shared economy for tourism in Seville? In order to explore all these questions a qualitative research approach will be adopted. The research data will be collected by means of interviews and a questionnaire. In this way, both online and offline interviews will be conducted; also, in order to be able to collect actual, updated, relevant data, Seville’s residents acting as hosts on Airbnb will be asked to complete an online questionnaire. It is expected that by carrying out such qualitative research we will gain a deeper understanding of the specific motives and experiences underpinning the topic under study in the Seville scenario. Future directions will also be succinctly outlined on how to further and diversify research into the booming shared economy phenomenon. PALABRAS CLAVE: Airbnb; Shared Economy; Peer to Peer; Tourism; Hospitality; Online. ÍNDICE CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1. JUSTIFICATION AND RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCH TOPIC ................................ 1 1.2. AIM AND OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................... 2 1.3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN .................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................. 5 2.1. AN OVERVIEW OF AIRBNB .................................................................................................. 5 2.2. A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO SEVILLE AND ANDALUSIA ..................................... 7 2.3. TOURISM IN SEVILLE ............................................................................................................ 8 2.4. TOURISM CULTURE IN SEVILLE ........................................................................................ 8 2.5. SEVILLE’S ECONOMY ........................................................................................................... 9 2.6. AIRBNB AND OTHER ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS AVAILABLE IN SEVILLE ...... 11 2.7. EFFECT OF TOURISM ON SEVILLE ................................................................................. 11 2.8. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 12 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................... 13 3.1 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................................. 13 3.2. THEORETICAL RESEARCH................................................................................................ 13 3.3 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................... 15 3.4 ONLINE RESEARCH ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES ..................................... 19 3.5 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND DESIGN OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE ....................... 19 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................ 23 4.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 23 4.2 FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................. 23 4.3. DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................... 31 4.4. SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 32 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 33 5.1 KEY FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................ 33 5.2. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS .................................................................................................. 33 5.3. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ....................................................... 34 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 35 APPENDIX .… .................................................................................................................... 37 TFG-TUR Effects of Shared Economy on Tourism in Seville (Spain): The Case of Airbnb CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 JUSTIFICATION AND RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCH TOPIC Shared economy has become the buzzword at present and information technology is the fundamental force lying behind it. As information technology represents a major commodity in human lives, it also has a considerable influence on the tourism sector. It is not only individuals that are directly benefitting from the shared economy framework, but the tourist industry itself is taking great advantage of this favourable situation in which technology is playing a most decisive role in all walks of human life. Internet has evidently become the facilitator in the matchmaking between the demand and supply sides of tourism. Spain is one the most important tourist countries in Europe as well as in the world, and tourism shapes a key driving force in Spanish economy. Seville, the capital city of Andalusia, conforms one of the most popular tourist destinations in Spain. Its rich and varied cultural and historic heritage, in combination with numerous valuable tourist attractions, sets Seville apart from many other cities in Spain. Seville boasts various first-class art museums, a superb cathedral and numerous eye-catching churches. Seville is also one of the recognised birthplaces of flamenco, the popular Spanish traditional music. All this makes Seville one of the most visible tourist cities in our country, welcoming a great number of visitors every year (Albert-Piñole, 2014). This is the main reason why Seville has been chosen as the object for the research that will be conducted in the present work. Notably no research has yet been carried out to find out how this popular tourist destination is currently being affected by technology-related businesses. Tourism is definitely a key player in both Spain’s and Seville’s economy. In turn, Airbnb is an online business where people book accommodation places at some other people’s houses or flats. It is based on peer to peer business and shared economy. The essential philosophy of shared economy, as the very term suggests, is to share something with others, be it accommodation, transport, services, or other products. BlaBlaCar, Uber, and Airbnb are perhaps the best examples of shared economies we can spot in our everyday lives nowadays. This project aims to make a research-based contribution to the current debate on the role of shared economy in Seville’s tourism. Thus, we will take the hospitality and social website called “Airbnb” as a case study to try to explore how shared economy may already be having visible effects on the tourism sector in Seville, and how this peer to peer culture could turn out to be openly beneficial to the city’s economy in general. How are individuals taking benefit from these businesses? How are websites like Airbnb affecting the culture of tourism? What are the pros and cons of shared economy for Seville’s tourist industry? In order to fully explore all these issues, a qualitative-research approach will be employed (Perales, 2016). 1 TFG-TUR Effects of Shared Economy on Tourism in Seville (Spain): The Case of Airbnb The new business service models based on collaborative consumption and citizens’ participation allow for a better distribution of income for local economies and their stakeholders. This new disruptive economic approach contrasts from traditional business models, causing profound changes in societies and in the way citizens interact with these organizations. The small size required for this type of business drives a change in the economic paradigm in today's society, where more and more the acquisition process is derived by experiencing something new; the underlying base of this economic model being collaborative consumption, which is generally related to the activity of sharing goods and services within peer-to-peer networks. This terminology is usually associated to file sharing, and only recently, with the proliferation of technological platforms, its implementation became possible (Tucker, 2014). However, further research is needed on the impact of these new business service models on the local economy and citizens. The sharing economy may become a way to promote more sustainable behaviours. People feel motivated to engage in sustainable behaviours, especially when they perceive that other consumers are also collaborating. As a general rule, tourism is an important, decisive contributor to the economic growth of a nation. Factors such as environment, society and geography jointly determine the tourist attractiveness of a country and have an important impact on economic growth. Sharing economy is a fast way of creating a balance between consumer demands and service providence sales, mainly because it links top-level organizations like a five-star hotel with low-level organization like a taxi service centre. In the specific case of tourism, the new economic model can be expected to quickly meet the demands of consumer and foster the economic growth of a country. The present work endeavours to contribute an empirical study of these new business models of shared economy. A qualitative-research study has been undertaken in a tourism setting using a particular company as its case study. This project ultimately intends to better understand the economic model’s sustainability, considering the challenges of today’s global economy transformations. 1.2. AIM AND OBJECTIVES The general aim of the research is to explore how shared economy and the web-based Airbnb hospitality platform may already be having a noticeable effect on the tourism culture in Seville (Spain). The basic aim of the project will be accomplished through the following specific objectives:  To critically analyse current tourism trends in Seville.  To collect relevant data through an online interview containing an e- questionnaire.  To analyse how Seville’s tourism is taking benefit from shared economy from a qualitative research analysis approach.  To discuss the outcome of the analysis, especially identifying further improvements, suggestions and research directions. 2 TFG-TUR Effects of Shared Economy on Tourism in Seville (Spain): The Case of Airbnb 1.3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN To meet the required aim and objectives, and to fulfil the identified research gap, a qualitative-research approach has been adopted. This research approach is largely accepted in the information system discipline. To achieve the desired goals, the research was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, a detailed literature review (theoretical research) was conducted; in the second phase, an internet-based survey was conducted of the Airbnb website (strictly abiding by the ethical obligations of online research). Once the collection of the required results from respondents was completed, the data was subsequently analysed. To illustrate the actual effects of sharing economy on Seville’s tourism culture, the data was basically collected from Seville’s local residents serving as hosts on Airbnb. The data was gathered on the basis of an e- questionnaire. To do so, online interviews were conducted and the questionnaire was presented to the hospitality platform hosts. By analysing the data collected, it was hoped that a deeper insight and understanding would be gained on the specific motives and experiences of those engaging in shared economy in the tourist scenario of the city of Seville. As already stated, future directions will be briefly sketched at the end of the present study on how to take more benefit from shared economy as far as areas of economic activity other than tourism and hospitality are concerned. 3 TFG-TUR Effects of Shared Economy on Tourism in Seville (Spain): The Case of Airbnb 4