Understanding and Managing the Impact of Airbnb: The Case of Western Australia from 2015 to the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020

This book explores the rapid growth of the sharing economy, specifically of Airbnb, in recent years and how it has challenged traditional economies in many countries around the globe. With almost 5 million listings in more than 190 countries, many consider Airbnb as one of the most disruptive developments in tourism over the past decade.

While this is a book about Western Australia as a case in point, the issues addressed in this book speak to the broader development of the sharing economy and its effects experienced nationally and indeed internationally. Thus, through the adoption of a case-specific analysis of the growth and impact of Airbnb, the book significantly contributes to closing existing knowledge gaps on the Airbnb phenomenon by exploring not only stakeholder perceptions of the sharing economy and Airbnb, the extent of Airbnb supply and demand, and how this differs from conventional accommodation demand, but also what policy responses have been employed in other tourism destinations worldwide. Western Australia in this regard serves as an exemplar case to shed light on the Airbnb phenomenon.

This book presents a comprehensive global study that has investigated the Airbnb phenomenon from a supply, demand, stakeholder, and government response perspective and thus offers new empirical insights, which are of interest to government agencies and the tourism sector and are a valuable source of data to inform current policy debate.

Professor Christof Pforr is Discipline Leader (Tourism, Hospitality & Events) with the School of Management & Marketing, Faculty of Business & Law, Curtin University (Western Australia). Prior to joining Curtin University in 2003, Professor Pforr held academic positions at three other Australia universities and has been a Visiting Professor at universities in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Prof Pforr’s past and current research is inter- and multidisciplinary. In essence, his activities have concentrated on four interconnected research areas, sustainability, tourism public policy, destination governance and special interest tourism, all fields he has frequently published in. Professor Pforr has contributed to more than 150 publications (including 10 books) and numerous national and international research projects.

Dr Michael Volgger is an Associate Professor with the School of Management and Marketing at Curtin University in Western Australia where he is Co-Director of the Tourism Research Cluster. Michael holds a Doctoral degree in Economics and Business Administration and a Master degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology. His areas of expertise span questions of transformation and social coordination in tourism destination management, tourism product development and consumer behaviour. Particular interests include the sharing economy, responsible consumer behaviour, development of tourism atmospheres, the governance of the tourism supply side and social perspectives on tourist behaviour. He has been part of research teams which have received research grants in the range of AUD1.1 million in Europe and Australia and he has published more than 70 academic articles and five books. Dr Michael Volgger has lectured on tourism and hospitality in Australia, Germany and Switzerland.

Sara Cavalcanti Marques is an Ecologist with an Honours degree in landscape ecology from the São Paulo State University in Brazil. As the Tourism Research Cluster’s Coordinator at Curtin University, Sara has conducted multiple demand-driven research projects for some of Western Australia’s peak tourism bodies and co-authored several reports that have informed government policies and programs as well as industry campaigns. With a passion for sustainable development and indigenous tourism, Sara was the driver behind a tourism jobs stimulus and recovery proposal pitched to the Western Australian State government that culminated in AU＄ 75 million funding support for Aboriginal tourism businesses post COVID-19. Her key research interests centre around tourism destination governance, tourism policy and planning, tourism sustainability, and social equity through tourism.

Aji Cahya Nusantara is a PhD candidate at the School of Management and Marketing at Curtin University, Australia. Aji’s doctoral project investigates the host-guest relationship development and guest loyalty in the context of Airbnb. His current PhD degree is fully funded by RTP (Research and Training Program) Scholarships of Curtin University. Prior to his PhD study, he was a lecturer at Sebelas Maret University in Indonesia. He also received LPDP scholarships for his Master of Commerce in Marketing degree at Curtin University in 2017. His research interest areas are, but not limited to, sharing economy in tourism, tourism policy, tourism and marketing strategy, and tourist/consumer behaviour. He has authored and co-authored several academic publications

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