The evolution of the P2P accommodation sector in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

In the last few years, the development of disruptive business models, such as the sharing economy, had an important impact on all economic sectors. Within the tourism sector, collaborative tourism was one pillar of the unstoppable digitization process that has restructured the sector, giving rise to new services and business models and a transformation of its value chain. Motivated by the appearance of P2P platforms, the accommodation sector was especially affected by this phenomenon. This work aims to analyze the most recent evolution of the accommodation sector in Spain. The so called “P2P accommodation” had a very remarkable growth in the last decade, both from the supply side, which currently exceeds that of hotel accommodation, and from the demand side. Using a descriptive statistical analysis of data drawn from the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE), we will focus on the evolution of the accommodation sector during the last two years, in order to know the situation of P2P accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results show the strength of this accommodation sector, as demand data show that rented dwellings have gained weight both in absolute and relative terms among residents in Spain. Among international tourists, the use of P2P accommodation is also relevant and with higher growth than that of the hospitality sector, as well as the length of the stay, while in terms of expenditure the relevance of this type of accommodation is confirmed, although it is still not comparable with the figures for hotel accommodation. Supply data show a decrease in the number of rented dwellings and the available bed-places during 2020 but an increase during the reactivation of the tourism sector in 2021.