The sharing economy in tourism and property markets: a comment on the darker side of conceptual stretching

Abstract

The emergence of Airbnb and the sharing economy as it relates to accommodation have, although relatively recent developments, been the subject of a significant body of tourism research. Much of this has focused on the nature of the innovation, the practices involved in commerce of this nature, and the impacts they have had on tourism systems and the local communities in which they are embedded. In order to add to precision, the concept has been stretched to be more integrative of how changes are being played out in an evolving range of organizational types and contexts. Drawing mainly on evidence from the United Kingdom, the main contribution of this short commentary is to argue that previous ‘conceptual stretching’ has been misdirected, almost to the point of obscuring the key resource (space) and its state (as property, in ownership) as the basis for value creation, commodification, and capital accumulation from offering accommodation in this way. If the intention is to understand the impacts of this form of transaction, it is time to move property, property markets, and property ownership out of the shadows of tourism and hospitality research.