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The literature on short-term rental emphasises the heterogeneity of the hosts population. Some argue that professional and opportunistic hosts differ in terms of their pricing strategy. This study highlights how differences in market perception and information create a price differential between professional and non-professional players. Proposing an original and accurate definition of professional hosts, we rely on a large dataset of almost 9000 properties and 73,000 observations to investigate the pricing behaviour of Airbnb sellers in Corsica (France). Using OLS and the double-machine learning methods, we demonstrate that a price differential exists between professional and opportunistic sellers. In addition, we assess the impact of seasonality in demand on the size and direction of this price differential. We find that professionals perceive a higher degree of market power than others during the peak season and it allows them to enhance their revenues.

International audience; The literature on the peer-to-peer hospitality market largely assumes that Airbnb hosts are loyal to the platform. However, similar to hoteliers, Airbnb hosts have access to various platforms to diversify their distribution channels. In cases where hosts significantly diversify their distribution channels, they should be considered rather as professional competitors mimicking hoteliers. Proposing an original image-recognition approach to obtain a proxy of the number of platforms used by Airbnb hosts, this paper assesses the probability that a home-sharer practices multichannel distribution. Drawing on a sample of more than 3900 hosts from the region of Corsica in France, we show that a multichannel distribution strategy is commonly adopted. Furthermore, a significant fraction of small hosts uses three or more channels.

In a context in which the tourism industry is jeopardised by the COVID-19 pandemic, and potentially by other pandemics in the future, the capacity to produce accurate forecasts is crucial to stakeholders and policy-makers. This paper attempts to forecast the recovery of tourism demand for 2021 in 20 destinations worldwide. An original scenario-based judgemental forecast based on the definition of a Covid-19 Risk Exposure index is proposed to overcome the limitations of traditional forecasting methods. Three scenarios are proposed, and ex ante forecasts are generated for each destination using a baseline forecast, the developed index and a judgemental approach. The limitations and potential developments of this new forecasting model are then discussed.

No effort has been made to connect good governance and the performance of the tourism industry at the country level. We take a first step to provide empirical evidence of this positive effect. Based on a data set of 100 countries between 2002 and 2012, the impact of the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) on the tourism industry is analyzed, controlling also for demographic, economic and environmental factors. Using a dynamic panel data approach, we highlight the role played by good governance in explaining differences in countries’ tourism performances, measured here as inbound tourism expenditures per inhabitant. We also observe that the impact of WGI is even higher among low-openness countries.

The aim of this contribution is, focusing on the case of Corsica, to quantify the identity value of local production. Apart from the nutritional, healthy and organoleptic features of local products, from the consumer point of view, their consumption tends to develop a sense of belonging to the place it is produced in: in other words, it is not just food, but it is also an experience allowing individuals to connect with local heritage. For instance due to the originality of the techniques or the quality of the employed ingredients. One can say that both material and immaterial local patrimony are transferred to the product, increasing consumers' willingness to pay and therefore its market value. It is precisely this identity value that we would like to isolate and estimate combining a choice experiment method with a geographical qualitative approach. To this end, a geographical survey has been undertaken. It aims to identify typical consumption profiles depending on the link between the consumer, the place and the product. This survey is complemented with an econometric analysis in order to identify consumers' motivations and measure the related values., Ce texte propose d'explorer la valeur identitaire des produits de terroir à partir de l'exemple de la Corse. Dans ce contexte territorial particulier, la demande touristique tendrait à valoriser fortement la représentation de conservatoire d'authenticité que renvoie l'île. Au-delà des qualités nutritives, sanitaires et organoleptiques des produits, les touristes chercheraient à s'immiscer dans le territoire et à opérer une rencontre avec la culture locale. C'est précisément cette « sur- » valeur patrimoniale investie par les touristes que nous cherchons à mesurer. Pour cela, une enquête géographique a été conduite de façon à mettre en évidence différents profils de consommateurs en fonction de leurs liens aux produits et au territoire. Celle-ci est complétée par une analyse économétrique devant conduire à identifier et classer les motivations des consommateurs et à mesurer quantitativement les différentes valeurs.

As tourism is becoming one of the most important sectors of the world economy, the number of small islands trying to develop a competitive tourist activity is increasing and this strategy appears as growth enhancing. In most cases, it is built on the environmental quality of the destination but also on lodging infrastructures and related services that tourists deserve in order to enjoy a good experience. This paper explores the inter-temporal trade-off between tourist investments and environmental quality preservation needed to ensure population revenues in the long run. It highlights possible cyclical evolution of environmental quality, tourist infrastructures, investments and tourist frequentation.

The influx of non-local buyers into the farmland market is commonly held responsible for the exclusion of local buyers. We study the case of the seaside farmland market in Corsica between 1998 and 2008. Rather than the exclusion of locals, the data show a massive price gap between non-local and local buyers. In order to assess the reality and magnitude of this price gap, we first estimate standard hedonic price models, while controlling for omitted variable bias using an innovative method recently proposed by Oster (2017). Beyond the estimation of standard hedonic price models, we show that the estimation of a general potential outcome model allows to capture more finely the observable and non-observable heterogeneity related to the preferences of non-local and local buyers. Our findings emphasize that, although willing to pay high prices due to their specific preferences, non-local buyers can coexist with local buyers, who pay significantly lower prices.