Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to provide reliable information from online platforms that quantifies the impact of tourist accommodation in Granada in relation to commercial activities, hotels, and residential homes. To do so, the authors take into consideration economic and population variables. Particularly, they focus on offering evidence on the tourist pressure in the most touristic neighborhoods of the city, mainly Albaicín-Sacromonte, Centro 1, and Realejo. This type of research has been widely demanded by residents, local government, and stakeholders in general in order to take action on this field.
TopBackground
The sharing economy phenomenon has attracted a growing amount of tourism-based research in recent years due to the popularization of services such as Uber or Airbnb, among others (Cheng, 2016; Juul, 2015; Heo, 2016; Leung, Xue, & Wen, 2019). Moreover, hospitality in particular has undergone a significant change given the new accommodation supply provided by Airbnb and similar platforms. As it has developed, the sharing economy has generated new sources of income for owners by exploiting their excess capacity (Heo, 2016), and offered tourists rental prices for apartments or rooms that are more competitive than traditional hotel prices (Fang, Ye, & Law, 2016). This has led to the redefining of concepts such as ownership and employment, and of tourist practices (Ferrell, Ferrell, & Huggins, 2017). Other positive effects include the environmental impact and social benefits (Gonzalez-Padron, 2017; Schor, 2016). However, these changes have generated negative impacts: the creation of a new class of worker insecurity, the concentration of supply in the hands of large corporations, and the lack of appropriate regulation of conditions for providing the service, among others. One highly significant factor, closely related to our research, is the fact that the increase in supply could negatively affect tourist destinations due to the lack of sustainability and growing massification (Guttentag, 2015; Oskam & Boswijk, 2016; Moreno-Izquierdo, Ramón-Rodríguez, Such-Devesa, & Perles-Ribes 2019), and the consequent negative impact on the residential market, leading to a progressive decline in population (Cócola Gant, 2016; Kesar, Dezeljin, & Bienenfeld, 2015).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Tourist Flows: This refers to the spatial patterns of tourists visiting a city. It provides information that is important in managing tourism and providing services and goods that are appropriate for tourists and residents.
Gentrification: This entails the displacement of residents from neighborhoods that are revalued by the injection of public or private capital.
Sustainable Tourism: This is an approach to tourism that takes into account the many social and environmental impacts of tourism on a territory and the communities of residents living in it.
Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor: A tool, developed by the European Commission, to monitor, assess and compare the performance of 'Cultural and Creative Cities' in Europe from both the quantitative and qualitative perspectives. It consists of 29 indicators, 9 dimensions, and 3 major facets of the cultural, social, and economic vitality of cities: cultural vibrancy, creative economy, and enabling environment.
Sharing City: This refers to the application of sharing economy dynamics to urban areas in order to face social and environmental challenges within a scenario of growing resource constraints.
Touristification: This refers to the impact of mass tourism on the commercial and social fabric of neighborhoods, causing services, facilities, and shops to be oriented towards and conceived of by reference to the tourist rather than the resident.
Tourist Apartments: This refers to those apartments that are for the use of tourists and includes those found on sharing economy platforms such as Airbnb.