Framework and problem description
For a number of years there has been disruption in the accommodation sector. New players from the sharing economy have entered the accommodation market. Many articles have already appeared in the literature on this recent phenomenon, but mainly concern research carried out in other countries. This research maps the largest player in the subeconomy in the accommodation sector, Airbnb, in the province of Antwerp in comparison with hotels in this area. We do this by means of the following research questions.
Research questions
RQ1: What is the vision of hotel operators, Airbnb hosts, tourist services and trend watchers in the province of Antwerp regarding the sharing economy?
RQ2: How is the range of Airbnb accommodations and licensed hotels spread in the province of Antwerp?
RQ3: What is the impact of Airbnb on room occupancy, average room price and REVPAR in the hotel sector of the city of Antwerp?
RQ4: To what extent do the residential guest profiles of licensed hotels differ from the residential guest profiles of Airbnb accommodations in the province of Antwerp?
RQ5: What are the motivations of licensed hotel and Airbnb guests to choose or not to choose a particular type of accommodation in the province of Antwerp?
RQ6: What are the strengths and weaknesses of Airbnb accommodations and licensed hotels in the Pprovince of Antwerp based on online reviews?
Methodology
RQ1: Qualitative interviews in 2017 and 2019. Evaluation via NVivo.
RQ2: Supply analysis in the period 2017-2019.
RQ3: Quantitative hotel survey to collectdata about demand during the period 2017-2020. Analys via SPSS.
RQ4 & RQ5: Closed-Question Quantitative survey of licensed hotel and Airbnb residents in 2018. Analysis via SPSS.
RQ6: Content analysis of reviews in 2018. Analysis via SPSS.