Sharing economy and urban tourist destinations: analysis of Airbnb spatial distribution in Curitiba

Abstract

The study focuses on the spatial expression of Airbnb and the plataform’s ads to investigate the interrelationship between the spatial distribution of the Airbnb offer and the urban-tourist dynamics of Curitiba. The quantitative method was conducted through spatial data analysis and descriptive statistics, using digital data source (AirDNA, 2017). The results highlight the understanding of the dynamics of Airbnb with the urban-tourist space; the indication that the Airbnb offer does not pose a threat to conventional hotel occupation; the occurrence of multiple advertisements from the same host as a sign of negative externality; the reinforcement of centrality as a common element in the analysis of the spatial distribution of the Airbnb offer and the regions with the best socioeconomic indices; and the eminence of new actors in the local tourist dynamics. The theoretical implications highlight the complex relationships between producers, consumers, local community and public organizations in the context of collaborative economy and the contribution to the discussions about territorial planning of tourism in local level. The conclusion points out that the spatial distribution of Airbnb blurs the limits of what would be the par excellence tourist space of Curitiba, considering new uses of space and its potential for interrelationship.

Keywords
Tourism; Airbnb; Spatial Analysis