BOOKING TRAVEL THROUGH THE AIRBNB PLATFORM DURING THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC
Elena Ştiubea
Doctoral School of Economic Sciences, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Oradea, Romania
Abstract: The collaborative economy, even if it has moulded well in the tourism market and has developed surprisingly, has been a controversial field from the very beginning, especially as it does not take place within a very well regulated legislative framework. The outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic severely destabilized all industries, but among the most vulnerable to it was tourism. Not much is known yet about the impact of COVID 19 on traditional sectors, let alone studies or analyses of how the pandemic has affected non-traditional peer-to-peer accommodation. This article attempts a brief analysis of how people have booked or canceled their trips through the Airbnb platform since the beginning of the pandemic. The results show that the sharpest decline was recorded in April 2020 when the number of bookings fell by 72%, compared to the same period in 2019. In the summer months, when most people plan their vacation, the bookings were not numerous, but they kept a certain stability. Compared to June-September 2019, bookings in 2020, during the same period, decreased by 20%. The pandemic has hit this sector hard, especially as all pre-pandemic forecasts showed significant increases in peer-to-peer accommodation between 2020 and 2025 and therefore increases in overall revenue as a result of bookings. This study shows that peer-to-peer accommodation is just as vulnerable to such a pandemic as traditional accommodation. Providers need to rethink their offer in order to reduce financial losses and at the same time protect their employees and provide them with job stability. It can be seen that the cancellations and alterations of the services booked through Airbnb increased exponentially after the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic because people could no longer travel from one place to another and even if certain journeys were allowed, people were afraid or felt uncomfortable taking trips.
Keywords: Airbnb; COVID 19; collaborative economy.
