Building a Successful Short-Term Rental Business: Insights from Experienced Airbnb Hosts

Research Proposal Building a Successful Short-Term Rental Business: Insights from Experienced AirBnB Hosts Name Course Institution Date Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.Project Background PAGEREF _Toc189746665 \h 41.1 Aim and Objectives PAGEREF _Toc189746666 \h 61.1.2 Aim PAGEREF _Toc189746667 \h 61.1.3 Objectives PAGEREF _Toc189746668 \h 62.Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc189746669 \h 72.1 Best Practices for Running a Successful AirBnB Host Business PAGEREF _Toc189746670 \h 72.2 Impacts of Identified Strategies on the Digital Short-Term Rental Business PAGEREF _Toc189746671 \h 92.3 Implementing Identified Business Practices for Successful Short-Term Rental Business PAGEREF _Toc189746672 \h 102.4 Research gaps and the Relevance of this Study PAGEREF _Toc189746673 \h 103.Data Collection and Analysis Plan PAGEREF _Toc189746674 \h 113.1 Research Paradigm PAGEREF _Toc189746675 \h 113.2 Research Design PAGEREF _Toc189746676 \h 113.3 Research Approach PAGEREF _Toc189746677 \h 113.4 Research Method PAGEREF _Toc189746678 \h 123.5 Data Collection Tools PAGEREF _Toc189746679 \h 123.5.1 Qualitative Data Collection PAGEREF _Toc189746680 \h 123.5.2 Data Analysis PAGEREF _Toc189746681 \h 123.5.3 Population PAGEREF _Toc189746682 \h 133.5.4 Recruitment PAGEREF _Toc189746683 \h 133.6 Ethics PAGEREF _Toc189746684 \h 134.Areas of Concern PAGEREF _Toc189746685 \h 14References PAGEREF _Toc189746686 \h 15Appendices PAGEREF _Toc189746687 \h 17Integrity Badge PAGEREF _Toc189746688 \h 21 1 Project Background The tourism and hospitality industry is characteristic of emerging concepts tailor-made for promoting the development and adoption of sustainable business models and practices in the increasingly competitive industry. Promoting the radical shift to sustainable tourism worldwide is the widespread use of advanced communication technologies that allows for easier integration of both the environmental and social sustainability concerns in the tourism and hospitality industry CITATION Mid17 \l 1033 (Midgett, 2017). Collaborative consumption or shared economy in the industry is an example of emerging concepts widely embraced in the tourism and accommodation industry accounting for the new wave of digital accommodation spearheaded by AirBnB. As an online peer-to-peer short-term accommodation platform, AirBnB, connects travelling customers or guests worldwide to the local owners of accommodations listed on the digital marketplace CITATION air17 \l 1033 (Airbnb, 2017). The new socio-economic model thrives on increased internet connectivity through the different social networking platforms enabling hosts, the local property or home owners, to provide personalized hospitality experiences to the travelling guests upon choosing their listed properties. In essence, the digital platform allows property owners or hosts to list their available spaces for booking by travelling customers in the form of a short-term rental arrangement where the host and the guest share the public spaces under one roof. Founded in 2008 by the trio of Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk, boasts of approximately 7 million accommodations across more than 100, 000 cities in over 220 countries worldwide CITATION Hat21 \l 1033 (Hati, 2021). The digital accommodation platform opens up the tourism and hospitality industry to local entrepreneurs, also known as hosts, who provide authentic and equally diverse hospitality experience to guests. The newly created growth opportunities account for the exponential growth witnessed in the digital accommodation platform since its inception in 2007. For instance, the digital accommodation platform recorded an increase of over 4 million guests staying in the listed properties from 2014 to 2017. AirBnB further recorded a total booking value of $ 9.4 billion in a corresponding booking of 91 million nights in the first quarter of 2019 CITATION air17 \l 1033 (Airbnb, 2017). Among the factors contributing to the exponential growth of the digital accommodation platform is the increasing demand for authentic and personalized experiences offered by the hosts. Satisfying the growing demand thrives on the effective integration of key business practices with the individual attributes of the hosts that determine their capacity to deliver such experiences to their guests. Successful AirBnB hosts employ a range of effective business practices, such as effective communication with potential guests, maintaining a digital marketing and advertisement presence, appropriate pricing of their homes or rental properties, and proper planning, organization, and scheduling of the short-term stays. Individual attributes or the hosts' personalities also contribute to the success of the digital short-term rental business as they determine the host's ability to provide a home-stay experience to the traveling guests. Honesty and integrity are some of the key attributes contributing to the sustainable growth and development of AirBnB worldwide as they are the foundation of the pillars of trust and safety upon which the platform thrives. Other individual attributes may include good communication and interpersonal skills necessary ensuring an authentic and personalized homestays for the traveling guests globally. It suffices that building a successful short-term rental business requires an understanding of the underlying factors contributing to the unprecedented growth of the digital accommodation platform for short-term rental of listed homes and other rental properties. Hence, this research study seeks to explore some of the key business practices and the hosts' attributes accounting for the exponential growth of AirBnB, a people-to-people home sharing accommodation platform, in the global tourism and hospitality industry to inform and guide the building of a successful short-term rental business. 1.1 Aim and Objectives 1.1.2 Aim To explore the key business practices for building a successful short-term rental business through the experiences of successful AirBnB hosts in managing short-term rentals. 1.1.3 Objectives 1 To identify the key business practices employed by successful AirBnB hosts in managing short-term rentals. This objective seeks to explore and evaluate some of the key business practices accounting for successful development and management of short-term rental spaces through the lens of successful AirBnB hosts. The exploration and evaluation will highlight the business practices playing the most significant roles towards establishing successful short-term rental businesses among AirBnB hosts. 2 To explore the impact of identified business practices on the short-term rental business. This will involve creating an understanding of the diverse and equally important roles played by the identified business practices in ensuring the growth and development of short-term rental businesses. It will assess the efficacy of identified business practices to achieve the desired outcomes for short-term rental business entities. 3 To suggest effective implementation of the key business practices to build a successful short-term rental business. The final objective will address the implementation of how to incorporate the identified business practices employed by AirBnB hosts to successfully build a short-term rental business. The ability to integrate the acquired knowledge on effective business practices among successful AirBnB hosts with the understanding of their impacts towards the growth and development of their businesses is crucial to building a successful short-term rental business. 2 Literature Review The short-term people-to-people digital accommodation platform, AirBnB, offers an excellent benchmark for potential entrepreneurs in the short-term rental business worldwide. Its exponential growth and subsequent opportunities for socio-economic growth and development of individuals and communities is subject to existing and future research into the underlying factors accounting for its success. Effective business practices makes for some of the key factors contributing to the rapid growth and development of the digital short-term rental business run by millions of hosts around the world. Explored in this literature review are some of the existing scholarly works on the best business practices among AirBnB hosts, the impact of such practices in promoting growth and development of the short-term rental business, and successful implementation of identified practices. 2.1 Best Practices for Running a Successful AirBnB Host Business One of the fundamental factors contributing to the successful and exponential growth of the digital short-term rental investments is an informed understanding of the short-term rental business environment through a thorough market analysis. Short-term rental business thrives on the concept of collaborative consumption or shared economy characterized by the triple bottom line of economy, social, equity, and environment CITATION Mid17 \l 1033 (Midgett, 2017). Short-term rental businesses, such as AirBnB, serve to promote sustainable economic growth and development in the tourism and hospitality sector by enhancing accountability of such entities to the triple bottom line. According to Airbnb (2017), the growing concern about climate change worldwide and the adoption of green practices makes for one of the key factors contributing to the exponential growth of the digital short-term rental business. The 2017 report further claim that approximately 72% of Airbnb guests choose the listed rental spaces due to the environmental benefits of home sharing CITATION air17 \l 1033 (Airbnb, 2017). Leick (2024) also posits that Airbnb hosts facilitate rural economic development and thus contributing to sustainable rural development by promoting micro-entrepreneurship, investment and consumption. An understanding and ability to leverage on individual and community cultural capital that is necessary for delivering a home-stay experience to travelling guests is also crucial for establishing a successful short-rental business CITATION Gri21 \l 1033 (Griggio, 2021). Compliance with the local laws on short-term rental accommodations is also vital to starting a venture in the sector to avoid breaching the existing legal guidelines for operating a short-term rental property CITATION Bri20 \l 1033 (Brian, 2020). E...