Tourism Platforms

Abstract

Over the past decade, Internet-enabled peer-to-peer platforms have had a significant impact on urban life and the economies of many cities. This process is sometimes referred to as ‘Airbnbzation’, with reference to the most notable platform, Airbnb, which has grown explosively since it was founded in 2008. Airbnb and other peer-to-peer platforms rely on new business models that are designed to extract and use data while intermediating between different groups of people. These platforms have been conceptualized both as forms of a sustainable, decentralized sharing economy and as manifestations of platform capitalism that disrupts the existing structures of market economies. We draw on the cases of Venice and Helsinki to illustrate the sustainability discourses and geographically uneven consequences of Airbnb and other peer-to-peer platforms. Venice is an example of a city where tourism has reached unsustainable levels, whereas Helsinki is an example of a city where the growth of Airbnb has been more modest. These two cities thus illustrate the contradictory discourses on economic and social sustainability surrounding peer-to-peer platforms.