Motives for using Airbnb in metropolitan tourism – why do people sleep in the bed of a stranger? (original) (raw)

“What’s Mine is Yours” has become the slogan of the boosting “share economy”. In tourism, this mainly affects the accommodation sector. In addition to offering free or affordable overnight stays, share websites such as couchsurfing.org and airbnb.com also claim that visitors to cities will enjoy an authentic experience. The article focuses at the motivations and expectations of the guests as driving forces, taking Berlin as a case study, and aiming at the meaning of collaborative consumption in tourism to “explorer tourists” in search of authentic experiences off the beaten track and outside the tourist bubble.