Women empowerment in Airbnb context: A host perspective

Abstract

The model of sharing economy has been rapidly growing and developing in the contemporary society. In tourism and hospitality research, Airbnb has emerged as a primary provider of short-term rental accommodations on an online marketplace which offers rooms and homes for travellers (Zervas et al., 2017). Found in 2008 and providing accommodation rental services, Airbnb can be found in more than 191 countries and approximately 200 million users have been using it (Airbnb, 2019). By transforming lodging from a business-to-customer model to a peer-to-peer model, Airbnb is viewed as a disruptive innovation in the hospitality industry (So et al., 2018) that may yield significant economic and social benefits to its users. Several studies have investigated various aspects of Airbnb, such as the attributes of guests (Belk, 2014), guest satisfaction (Tussyadiah, 2016), regulatory issues ( Nieuwland & Van Melik, 2018), impacts on the hotel industry (Zervas, Proserpio, & Byers, 2017) and the local community (Stergiou & Farmaki, 2019) as well as host practices including discrimination (Farmaki et al, 2020). Likewise, hosting on Airbnb may provide entrepreneurial opportunities, financial gains, and opportunities for socialization for hosts (Farmaki & Kaniadakis, 2020; Lampinen & Cheshire, 2016). Despite the burgeoning number of studies on Airbnb user perspectives, little is known of the views of women users of the platform and especially hosts (Farmaki, 2019). This is surprising as women represent 56% of Airbnb hosts (Airbnb, 2019). Within hospitality, the need for sustainable development by promoting gender equality and women empowerment is well documented (Dashper, 2020; Segovia-Perez et al., 2019). Many academics have highlighted the contribution of sharing economy to the SDGS (Heinrichs, 2013). Furthermore, the platform proudly proclaims that it contributes to women empowerment as through hosting they can gain several economic and social benefits. Nonetheless, insofar there is no study examining women empowerment of Airbnb female hosts. However, the extent to which Airbnb can promote gender equality and empower women remains an underexplored area. To fill this research gap, we draw from Kabeer’s (1999) women empowerment framework which acknowledges empowerment as a dynamic process requiring resources (e.g. financial, social support) and agency (capacity to make decisions) in order to achieve desired outcomes.