Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Airbnb in the Byron Shire, Australia – bane or blessing?

Airbnb in the Byron Shire, Australia – bane or blessing? Scholarly research into community members’ views on the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb on the local community is sparse, especially in regional Australia. The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of key informants in the Byron Shire of Australia about the impacts of Airbnb on the local community, as well as possible solutions to the problems.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach of in-depth interviewing using a semi-structured interview guide was used to capture the views regarding the impacts of Airbnb held by 22 key informants in the Byron Shire community. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis.FindingsThe 22 interviewees identified five main positive impacts of Airbnb on the Byron Shire community and eight main negative impacts of Airbnb. All participants said they wanted more regulation of Airbnb properties to help address the negative impacts of Airbnb in the community. Eight specific recommendations were offered by the interviewees.Research limitations/implicationsThe negative impacts of Airbnb felt by local community are more extensive and deleterious than have been accounted for in the literature. Research into community stakeholder perspectives is important, in order to gain a fuller view of the costs and benefits of sharing economy, especially with regard to short-term letting or holiday letting in tourism centres, as well as potential for more sustainable solutions to the issues.Practical implicationsThe findings are being used to inform policy makers’ decisions in managing Airbnb in the Shire.Social implicationsThe involvement of key informant community members in this study highlights that there is much common ground between different stakeholders. This type of research may help to provide a sense of enfranchisement and empowerment. This is important in fostering a more balanced public debate, as well as more sustainable approaches to managing the issues.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to explore the views of a range of different key informants in the regional tourist area of Byron Shire in Australia with regard to the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb on the local community, as well as possible solutions to the issues raised by Airbnb. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Tourism Cities Emerald Publishing

Airbnb in the Byron Shire, Australia – bane or blessing?

Download PDF
19 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/airbnb-in-the-byron-shire-australia-bane-or-blessing-e62MTx5EPM

References (50)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© International Tourism Studies Association.
ISSN
2056-5607
DOI
10.1108/ijtc-04-2019-0056
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Scholarly research into community members’ views on the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb on the local community is sparse, especially in regional Australia. The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of key informants in the Byron Shire of Australia about the impacts of Airbnb on the local community, as well as possible solutions to the problems.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach of in-depth interviewing using a semi-structured interview guide was used to capture the views regarding the impacts of Airbnb held by 22 key informants in the Byron Shire community. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis.FindingsThe 22 interviewees identified five main positive impacts of Airbnb on the Byron Shire community and eight main negative impacts of Airbnb. All participants said they wanted more regulation of Airbnb properties to help address the negative impacts of Airbnb in the community. Eight specific recommendations were offered by the interviewees.Research limitations/implicationsThe negative impacts of Airbnb felt by local community are more extensive and deleterious than have been accounted for in the literature. Research into community stakeholder perspectives is important, in order to gain a fuller view of the costs and benefits of sharing economy, especially with regard to short-term letting or holiday letting in tourism centres, as well as potential for more sustainable solutions to the issues.Practical implicationsThe findings are being used to inform policy makers’ decisions in managing Airbnb in the Shire.Social implicationsThe involvement of key informant community members in this study highlights that there is much common ground between different stakeholders. This type of research may help to provide a sense of enfranchisement and empowerment. This is important in fostering a more balanced public debate, as well as more sustainable approaches to managing the issues.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to explore the views of a range of different key informants in the regional tourist area of Byron Shire in Australia with regard to the positive and negative impacts of Airbnb on the local community, as well as possible solutions to the issues raised by Airbnb.

Journal

International Journal of Tourism Cities – Emerald Publishing

Published: Feb 25, 2020

Keywords: Local community; Social representation; Key informants; Airbnb; Shared economy; Overtourism

There are no references for this article.