The hedonic value of coastal amenities in peer-to-peer markets

Coastal amenities are public goods that represent an important attraction for tourism activities. This paper studies consumers’ willingness to pay for beach characteristics using hedonic pricing methods. We examine the implicit economic value of several beach characteristics like sand type, width, longitude, accessibility, or frontage in the Airbnb rental market. Using data for 16,663 Airbnb listings located in 67 municipalities of the Balearic Islands (Spain) during the summer of 2016, together with detailed information about the attributes of 263 beaches, our modelling approach considers interaction terms between the beach amenities and distance to the closest beach within a hedonic framework. Controlling for a set of listings’ characteristics, host features and municipality fixed effects, we find that Airbnb guests attach economic value to beach length, the presence of vegetation, the type of coastal frontage and beach accessibility and exclusivity. However, there is no evidence of price premiums depending on the beach width or the type of sand.