This book explores the rapid growth of the sharing economy, specifically of Airbnb, in recent years and how it has challenged traditional economies in many countries around the globe. With almost 5 million listings in more than 190 countries, many consider Airbnb as one of the most disruptive developments in tourism over the past decade.
While this is a book about Western Australia as a case in point, the issues addressed in this book speak to the broader development of the sharing economy and its effects experienced nationally and indeed internationally. Thus, through the adoption of a case-specific analysis of the growth and impact of Airbnb, the book significantly contributes to closing existing knowledge gaps on the Airbnb phenomenon by exploring not only stakeholder perceptions of the sharing economy and Airbnb, the extent of Airbnb supply and demand, and how this differs from conventional accommodation demand, but also what policy responses have been employed in other tourism destinations worldwide. Western Australia in this regard serves as an exemplar case to shed light on the Airbnb phenomenon. This book presents a comprehensive global study that has investigated the Airbnb phenomenon from a supply, demand, stakeholder, and government response perspective and thus offers new empirical insights, which are of interest to government agencies and the tourism sector and are a valuable source of data to inform current policy debate.