Platform Economy in Tourism and Hospitality

This timely volume provides a comprehensive and multidisciplinary analysis of platform-based tourism, integrating economic, technological, ethical, and policy perspectives.

Specifically in the current context of shifting social dynamics, this book explores how digital platforms, such as Airbnb, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor, have changed how travellers plan, book, and experience their holidays as well as the significant challenges for traditional tourism providers, communities, and governments, including regulation, equity, digital responsibility, and sustainability issues. In addition, this book unpacks and explores contemporary platform economy-driven trends such as digital nomadism, solo travelling, and travel content creation. This is supported throughout with international examples and case studies.

International in scope, this engaging volume will be of pivotal interest to industry experts as well as researchers and tourism, hospitality, economics, and technology students.

María Jesús Jerez-Jerez is a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader in International Business at the University of Bedfordshire, UK, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research interests focus on disruptive innovation in international business.

Lidia Aguiar-Castillo is a senior researcher at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) with a PhD in Enterprise, Internet, and ICT (Cum Laude, with international mention). Her research focuses on ICT applications in tourism and enterprise, supported by her professional experience in computing and project management, including a postdoctoral fellowship at CVUT (Prague Technical University).

Rafael Pérez Jiménez is a Full Professor of Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), where he has taught since 1991. Holding doctorates in both Engineering and History, he has led major national and international research projects exceeding €10M in funding. His areas of research interest focus on AI-based wireless optical communication systems, Joint Communication and Sensing solutions, and smart/cognitive cities applied to tourism. As the author of over 300 scientific publications, including indexed journal and conference papers, he has supervised 15 PhD theses and received several academic and innovation awards.