Understanding stressors and well-being of peer-to-peer accommodation providers in regional Australia

Background: COVID-19 can be understood as an economic super-shock in the tourism industry with the potential to cause wide-reaching structural changes within the industry. Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are not an exception. Arguably, COVID-19 has acted as a catalyst enabling us to understand the gig economy’s effect on our communities. Research efforts to date have not examined the stressors exacerbated by the pandemic and their effect on the well-being of P2P accommodation providers (or hosts), particularly those living in regional Australia.

Methods: Snowball sampling was used to recruit interviewees. Between October 2021 and August 2022, ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with P2P owners in Tasmania and regional Western Australia. Upon the transcription of the interviews, independent thematic analysis was conducted by all researchers.

Findings: Preliminary results outline P2P accommodation providers’ experiences of both hindrance and challenge stressors. Hindrance stressors included unrealistic expectations from guests, loss of bookings, and last-minute cancellations. These stressors caused frustration, as well as financial and emotional distress. In contrast, challenge stressors we identified related to the changing market and demographic and booking increases. Hosts who experienced challenge stressors adapted to these new challenges, and stress was able to be managed and minimised by hosts. The study identifies strategies that support well-being amidst the stressors. Amongst the others, these included sharing experiences with guests, promoting the region, coping with negative reviews using a positive mindset.

Conclusions: This exploratory study uncovered that stressors combined with roundthe-clock technological access and non-work demands can create devastating impacts on hosts’ wellbeing. While bigger scale research is needed to gauge further insights into the benefits of running a P2P accommodation, it is evident that many of the P2P platforms, such as Airbnb, should provide a more holistic and realistic approach to educating what running a P2P accommodation actually entails