On the other hand, researchers have confirmed the role of Airbnb in creating authentic tourism experiences by connecting the tourists directly with the locals. Although sharing platforms such as Airbnb have attracted increasing attention in the industry and academics, the majority focus in previous studies is still limited in the issues of short-term rentals. The composition and its consequences of the virtual guided tour experience, however, are still ambiguous. Understanding the new growth space in sharing economy for coping with the pandemic crisis is therefore essential since adversity breeds innovation. For instance, to navigate the business recovery, Airbnb released the “Online Experiences” program as the virtual tour activities without leaving home, switching the engaging activities designed by the locals to online tours or classes. Despite that, the changing travel patterns generate new growth opportunities to independent service providers. Keywordsĭue to the restrictions on travel especially international air travel, staycations are becoming the alternatives for travel to the destinations amid the COVID-19. Theoretical and practical implications in navigating tourism recovery were discussed. Experience encounter describes the experience composition from four dimensions: interpretation quality, host credibility, tourist-host social contact, and peer interaction Experience evaluation is involved with benefits mainly gained from the enhanced understanding of local culture and the satisfaction attributed by the sense of telepresence Further, behavioral intention covers both online and offline willingness to recommend or repurchase the virtual tour, or visit the destination in person after the pandemic.

A three-stage process of virtual guided tour experience was concluded, including experience encounter, experience evaluation, and behavioral intention. A case study based on the qualitative analysis was conducted with a dataset of online reviews towards an Online Experience in Beijing, China. This study aims to explore the composition of virtual guided tour experience on Airbnb and to develop a formation process of virtual guided tour experience.

Airbnb virtual experiences