Over the decades, the hospitality industry has transformed immensely to conform to the rapid economic trends experienced globally. In the United Kingdom (UK), its footprint in the country’s gross domestic product is felt. Before the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, businesses such as cafes, food service outlets, restaurants, hotels, and other accommodation establishments generated approximately 59.3 billion pounds of the total value added, or about 3.0% of the total value of the UK economy (Hutton & Foley, 2021, p. 3). Globally, urban tourism has necessitated city limits expansions to accommodate many guests, leading to the modernization of stay-cations fuelled by services like Airbnb that offer short-term economical stays.
Airbnb is considered a sharing economy; other accommodations in the industry have attempted to match Airbnb’s popularity, and its impact on the UK economy is positive in the sense that new business entries signal an opened-up economy, resulting in more revenue for the government and job opportunities. The sharing economy allows people to use assets they should not. Airbnb is a ground-breaking innovation that enables hosts to charge affordably vis-à-vis hotels, though it is still essential to the hospitality industry (Destefanis et al., 2020, p. 3). Airbnb’s marketing strategy has always faced stiff competition. Competitors are not only in the UK but spread worldwide, from international giants like Booking.com to local private rental properties. Dealing with such fierce competition is a significant challenge in the hospitality and tourism industry. This paper aims to examine the value of diversity within a shared economy.
The idea of generating shared benefits through mutually beneficial relationships lies at the core of Airbnb (Vargo et al., 2008, p. 146). While welcoming guests into a home is an inherent incentive for hosts, earning money is the primary motivation for renting (Lampinen & Cheshire, 2016). Millennials are interested in genuine experiences and cultural explorations on their stay-cations; unlike past generations (Glover, 2010), hotels sometimes need help to populate this area. One of the critical issues that the sector must address is what unique selling point Airbnb provides tourists that distinguishes it from traditional hospitality.
Sales have plummeted due to the decrease in Airbnb locations’ valuations because of noise, the inconvenience of being unable to travel by car, or a lack of parking close to an Airbnb unit. The guest experience is impacted by the absence of panoramic views or the incapacity to enjoy the view. When visitors need help finding the location convenient, especially when it is distant from attractive physical features like the beachfront, dissatisfaction seems to develop. Therefore, this area should be considered when formulating your marketing strategy. Airbnb’s marketing strategy recently attracted new non-tourist customers. Airbnb has put much effort into making its platform more attractive to guests (Carson, 2018). The company’s primary focus is attracting many guests, not just a few employees who travel occasionally.
A pattern of value generation results from using the foundations of Airbnb value production; the results demonstrate value creation, decrease, and destruction of value within the Airbnb environment in addition to positive value co-creation (Echeverri & Sklén, 2011). The findings demonstrate that value enhancement training has evolved in addition to positive value co-creation, as shown by the “recommend” method, in which a sizeable number of visitors have enjoyed their stay-cation. Customers’ perception of value is based on how better they feel than they did previously. Co-cancellation appears to be primarily caused by subpar service or carelessness, such as misunderstandings, failure to provide clear instructions or failing to supply promised resources, which is avoidable in the future.
The vital question is how the “sharing economy” offers consumers a unique value proposition and how competitive Airbnb’s offering is compared to the traditional hotel business; this sought to add to understanding by using S-D logic as advanced by Vargo and Akaka (2009) and a theoretical lens understanding how various micro and macro social practises function and how values are developed through this. (Echeverri and Sklén, 2011; Sklén et al., 2015). Given the broader landscape of Airbnb, hosts will benefit from understanding the service offered and what the guest needs. Additionally, peer-like communication with guests, provision of basic amenities, and meeting guest demands upon check-in and check-out will be more valuable, which research shows leads to positive feedback and good recommendations.
Using its web platform, Airbnb.com, Airbnb has made it possible to exchange short-term spaces on a big scale. Space-letting among regular individuals was familiar when Airbnb initially entered this short-term lodging industry, so established commercial leasers’ providers were not overly anxious about Airbnb’s potential impact. In contrast to this opinion, a sizable number of hosts and lodgers have embraced Airbnb’s entry; thus, Airbnb is a desirable market for guest leasing among individuals who are not professional hosts (Reinhold & Dolnicar, 2018). Although an organisation’s commerce model captures the big picture and shapes its business approach, the two concepts are markedly different. The strategy looks to the future and defines the organisation’s scope, unique selling proposition among market competitors, and how it creates shareholder value (Massa et al., 2017).
In summary, Airbnb is the UK’s vital development in the lodging business. Countless of these Airbnb benefits in the UK has been impactful in the vacation industry, where travellers always look for affordable accommodation. Inclusive tourism means that moderate-income people can easily travel, which has implications for increased tourism income; with inclusive tourism, persons with average incomes can easily travel, which impacts rising tourism revenues. Other advantages include lower housing costs, higher homeowner earnings, and a boost for the construction industry. Generally, the UK’s adoption of Airbnb has been spurred mainly by increased commercial activity and revenue and economic growth and development.
References
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