The Undisrupted Growth of the Airbnb Phenomenon between 2014–2020. The Touristification of European Cities before the COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

As a result of the Airbnb eruption, not only has the character of the short-term rental market been completely transformed, but the decades long growth in tourism has also been further accelerated. Therefore, due to the new demands of the tourism economy, the major shift in the usage of historic city centers occurred–the process of ‘touristification’, that results in the emergence of its new, unsustainable form. Despite the significance of those circumstances, there is a lack of any broader quantitative research that would present the dynamic of the Airbnb phenomenon. Therefore, thanks to the recognition of AirDNA data, such statistical analysis has become possible. The goal of this paper is to investigate the Airbnb’s growth trajectories—data that bind together a market dimension of the growth in tourism and the community aspect of an urban change caused by its impact—from the perspective of its spatial distribution across Europe between 2014 and 2020. As a result, it was possible to follow the Airbnb phenomenon during its undisrupted period of growth—from its sudden eruption, further spread, and potential future after the COVID-19 outbreak—all together with its logarithmic character, concentration form, and momentum of already reached economic equilibrium.