Motivating factors that lead individuals into staying at short-term rentals tourism accommodation, and the opportunities and challenges for property owners/managers

Abstract

Up until 2019 the global tourism industry experienced exponential growth and expected to grow further as economies prospered and stabilized from a global financial crisis experienced a decade earlier. On average the tourism sector directly contributes 4.4% of GDP, 6.9% of employment and 21.5% of service exports in OECD countries (OECD, 2020). As with any crisis, new opportunities emerged, and in the tourism accommodation industry this was particularly evident with the growing presence of short-term rentals (STR’s) replacing traditional forms of tourism accommodation. The development of Web 2.0 and the creation of peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms enabled everyday citizens to elevate their households to a temporary tourism accommodation, initially with few regulations in place to deter the process. While there is growing research regarding STR’s as a tourism accommodation typology, it is still somewhat limited to Airbnb research-based findings – a natural consequence, for being the key disruptive entity in the STR market. The following thesis throws light on the motivating factors that drive customers into staying at STR’s as well as analyses the macro environment which helps to identify the opportunities and threats that currently impact the STR market in Portugal. Insights range from important key factors that influence STR guests in choosing to stay at a STR, how STR guests view and perceive the STR tourism accommodation typology, as well as, but not limited to, how much STR guests are willing to pay for a STR and what platforms and devices are used to make reservations. The research method applied in this master’s thesis was conducted in the form of online surveys and e-mail-based interviews. The data collected was mostly qualitative, however an element of statistical analysis was conducted in the form of multi linear regression analysis to study how variations in the independent variables impact a dependent variable. The three dependent variables analyzed were: - Regression 1: Factors that impact being a usual guest at a STR - Regression 2: Factors that impact staying at a STR in a next trip - Regression 3: Factors that impact spending more per night at a STR The data sample is comprised of 214 completed online surveys. This sample base gives the researcher the possibility to extract findings associated to the characteristics of a STR guest. The final section of the qualitative analysis ends with an interview to a small number of property owners and managers. The purpose of this section was for the researcher to sense the common challenges that STR property owners face in the management of their properties, and to assist the researcher in providing a conclusive section with general ideas on the practices that STR property owners can implement to help improve customers overall experience. This master thesis is aimed at individuals and entities who wish to expand their knowledge about the STR market phenomenon along with key motivating factors for choosing to stay at a STR’s.