Mi Casa es su Casa? Examining Airbnb Hospitality Exchange Practices in a Developing Economy

Abstract

We present a study involving twenty in-depth, semi-structured interviews, a street survey, and online data to understand Airbnb hospitality exchange practices in the context of a developing country. As case studies, we investigate Airbnb practices of both hosts and guests in two tourist venues in Mexico -- the eighth most visited country worldwide. The analysis of the data revealed that Airbnb practices in Mexico have some similarities but also important differences with those previously reported in the literature. We found (1) that money is the main motivation for hosts to participate in Airbnb and that the earned money contributes significantly to the overall income of hosts; (2) that traditions that permeate the Mexican culture motivate hosts to engage in more personal hospitality experiences; (3) that Airbnb host practices lead to the creation of informal jobs that support the local community; and (4) that Airbnb local guests suggest that the lack of contextual information (i.e., the characteristics of the neighborhood where the accommodation is located) is a problem when renting in Mexico owing to safety issues.