Airbnb and the Hotel Industry in Warsaw: An Example of the Sharing Economy?

The aim of this analysis is to examine the characteristics of the Airbnb network, to verify the share of Airbnb offers that belong to the sharing economy and to identify the differences between the spatial distribution of the Airbnb network and the traditional hotel industry. The article is based on a unique dataset of web-scraped data on Airbnb listings in Warsaw (Poland), combined with district-level official statistics on the hotel industry. The analysis shows that only approximately 11% of offers belong to the sharing economy (“individuals granting each other temporary access to their under-utilised assets”), while at least one third of offers are provided by professional firms. The Airbnb network shows a strong centre-periphery pattern, with 75% of offers located within a range of 4.3 kilometres from the centre. The spatial concentration of Airbnb offers is strongly driven by their distance from metro lines, while it is weakly related to the amount of living space. On the district-level, the spatial distribution of Airbnb listings is correlated with that of the hotel industry, although Airbnb contributes to a more even spread of tourism in the city. The major contribution of this analysis is its presentation of the size and characteristics of the platform, which is essential for data-driven policy making.