Sharing Tourism and Its Impact on Hospitality Management in Essaouira: Analysis of the Evolution of Booking.com and Airbnb

Social networks jostle the terms of tourism communication. The presence of hotels on the web was, first, disrupted by the arrival of TripAdvisor and Booking.com. Recently, the platform of Airbnb has become a giant in the field of communication and the sales of accommodation. Faced with this reality, the traditional types of accommodations must adapt to a competitive environment where the client-tourist has become increasingly influential by providing opinions and comments and overall by the growth of the sharing economy where price and experience are important elements. The development of small hotels in Morocco (riad, guest house and cottages), with what they offer both in terms of experience and authenticity for tourists, has subtracted significant market share to hotels. They are more under the mercy of a clientele eager for experience and sharing and very present on social networks and new platforms for sales of tourist rentals. A successful environment requires sharing experiences and information between virtual traveler communities. Also, the success of the Booking.com and Airbnb platforms is based on a technological innovation that uses artificial intelligence in a kind of nonconformist economic model that disrupts the traditional rules and laws in the field of tourist accommodation. This study carries out an analysis of hospitality offer and its evolution in the last 10 years in a disruptive environment. The study reveals the strategies of hospitality management in Essaouira using data from the online platforms of Booking.com and Airbnb and shows the evolution of the management to include the collaborative and sharing aggregators.