The Sharing Economy and How It Affects the Conditions of Consumption and Competition in the Tourism Industry: The Case of Airbnb in Greece

The purpose of this study is to investigate the issue of new participatory economy online companies and how these affect the conditions of consumption and competition in the tourism sector. The main trigger for this research was the fact that in Greece there have been several studies on the subject, while there are no participatory economies with the success of international efforts. The paper has made a literature review on the possible effects of the sharing economy in the tourist industry, with a focus in the hotel industry, based on the literature review which has derived during the past 6 years by using relevant keywords, such as “airbnb and Greece”. The contribution of the paper is that it makes an investigation of the effect of airbnb in the Greek hotel industry’s consumption and competition based on the existing literature; therefore to make a critical analysis of the existing literature. It is a fact that sharing economies, and in particular Airbnb, have entered a very sudden way into the business process, with the result that there are no required regulatory safeguards to ensure fair competition on the market and consumer protection. However, it is necessary to set as a basic proposal of this study the further regulation of Airbnb transactions in the field of taxation, consumer protection and competition. It is certain that these companies offer very competitive services from an economic point of view, but it is also necessary for consumers to weigh all the benefits of doing so and to be particularly careful in choosing their place of stay.