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TESİSTEN KONUTA, TURİSTTEN MİSAFİRE: COUCHSURFING ÖRNEĞİ

Year 2019, Volume: 28 Issue: 1, 51 - 68, 15.07.2019

Abstract

Günümüz
dünyasında, bilgi ve iletişim teknolojilerinin seyahat öncesi, esnası ve
sonrasında kullanım yoğunluğu ve çeşitliliği giderek artmaktadır. Bu durum
modern turizm endüstrisinin geleneksel paydaşlarınca sağlanan mal ve hizmet
tedariği ve bilgi akışında alternatifler oluşturmaktadır. Paylaşım ekonomisini
benimsemiş ağ toplumu bireylerince alternatif yaratılan paydaşlardan bir tanesi
de konaklama endüstrisidir.



Çalışma
kapsamında, postmodern turizm faaliyetlerinin konaklama arzını oluşturan
platformlardan olan CouchSurfing sosyal ağına yoğunlaşılmıştır. Bu bağlamda,
platform kullanıcıların genel özelliklerine, konut sahibi, paylaşım turisti ve
diğer deneyimlerine (aktivite, buluşma ve bilgi-deneyim alışverişi) yönelik
sorgulamalar gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu sorgulamalar doğrultusunda nitel bir
araştırma süreci izlenmiş ve örneklem seçiminde üç üst (yaş, cinsiyet ve
referans) ve üç alt (konut sahibi, paylaşım turisti ve kişisel referanslar)
olmak üzere altı kriter gözetilerek sekiz katılımcı ile derinlemesine
görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler, betimsel analiz ile
yorumlanmıştır.



Sonuç
olarak; katılımcıların kültürel, ekonomik, kişisel motivasyonlar ve geleneksel
turist imajından kaçış amacı ile platformu kullandığı belirlenmiştir. Katılımcılar;
misafir ettikleri paylaşım turistlerini seçerken en çok referans, profil düzeni
ve paylaşım isteğinin içeriğine, misafir oldukları konut sahiplerini seçerken
ise referans, yaş, ortak ilgi alanları ve konutun konumuna dikkat ettiğini
belirtmiştir. Paylaşım konutu sahipleri, yaşam alanları ve çevresi hakkında
misafirlerine tavsiye ve ipuçları vermekte ve rehberlik yapmaktadır. Böylece
katılımcılar, akranları ile kurdukları ilişkilerin ev sahibi-misafir
bağlamından çıktığını ve yoğunlaşarak kalıcı bir hale dönüştüğünü
vurgulamaktadır. Kişisel seyahatlerde platformun kullanılması, katılımcıların
daha özgür ve yaratıcı hissetmelerini ve seyahatlerinden daha fazla zevk almalarını
beraberinde getirmiştir. Ayrıca katılımcıların seyahat alışkanlıklarının
değiştiği, seyahat sıklıklarının arttığı ve seyahat sürelerinin uzadığı da
tespit edilmiştir.

References

  • Airbnb, 2012. https://assets.airbnb.com/press/press-releases/Economic_Impact_Study.pdf
  • Airbnb, 2013. https://www.airbnb.nl/press/news/new-study-airbnb-community-makes-amsterdam-economy-stronger
  • Airbnb, 2014a. https://www.airbnb.nl/press/news/new-study-airbnb-community-generates-61-million-in-economic-activity-in-portland
  • Airbnb, 2014b. https://www.airbnb.nl/press/news/new-study-airbnb-community-generates-51-million-in-economic-impact-in-boston
  • Airbnb, 2015. https://www.airbnb.com.tr/press/news/airbnb-community-tops-1-15-billion-in-economic-activity-in-new-york-city
  • Airbnb, 2018. https://2sqy5r1jf93u30kwzc1smfqt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Airbnb_SouthAfricaEconomicImpactStudy_180831.pdf
  • Andriotisa, K., Agiomirgianakis, G. 2013. Market escape through exchange home swap as a form of non-commercial hospitality. Current Issues in Tourism, 17(7), 576-579.
  • Bialski, P. 2007. Intimate Tourism: Friendships in a State of Mobility - The Case of the Online Hospitality Network. Master Thesis, University of Warsaw, 89 pp.
  • Bialski, P. 2011. Technologies of hospitality: How planned encounters develop between strangers. Hospitality & Society, 1(3), 245–260.
  • Bialski, P., Batorski, D. 2009. From online familiarity to offline trust. In, Zaphiris, P., And, C. S. (eds) Social Computing and Virtual Communities. Taylor & Francis Group, London
  • Botsman, R., Rogers, R. 2010. What’s mine is yours: The rise of collaborative consumption. HarperBusiness, New York.
  • Buhalis, D., Law, R. 2008. Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet-The state of eTourism research. Tourism Management, 29, 609-623.
  • Buhalis, D., Licata, M. C. 2002. The future eTourism intermediaries. Tourism Management, 23, 207-220.
  • Cheng, M. 2016. Sharing economy: A review and agenda for future research. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 57, 60-70.
  • Cockayne, D. G. 2016. Sharing and neoliberal discourse: The economic function of sharing in the digital on-demand economy. Geoforum, 77, 73-82.Cohen, E. 1972. Toward a sociology of international tourism. Social Research, 39, 164-182.
  • Cohen, E. 1979. A phenomenology of tourist experiences. Sociology, 13, 179-201.
  • CouchSurfing About Us. http://www.couchsurfing.com/about/about-us/
  • Dredge, D., Gyimóthy, S. 2015. The collaborative economy and tourism: Critical perspectives, questionable claims and silenced voices. Tourism Recreation Research, 40(3), 286-302.
  • Dujmović, M., Vitasović, A. 2015. Postmodern society and tourism. Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management 3, 192-203.
  • Fang, B., Ye, Q., Law, R. 2016. Effect of sharing economy on tourism industry employment. Annals of Tourism Research, 57, 264–267.
  • Forno, F., Garibaldi, R. 2015. Sharing economy in travel and tourism: The case of home-swapping in Italy. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 16(2), 202-220.
  • Franz, M. 2013. CouchSurfing experiences, reputation, references and decision-making in an online hospitality network. Master Thesis, University of Jyväskylä. 96pp.
  • Garibaldi, R. 2015. Travelling the world sharing your home. ATLAS Annual Conference, Risk in Travel and Tourism (20-23 Ekim 2015), 26-29, Lisbon.
  • Gnevosa, S. 2011. Phenomenon of CouchSurfing as alternative tourism. Master Thesis, Toulouse University. 102pp.
  • Graburn, N. 2013. Anthropology and Couchsurfing variations on a theme (an afterword). In, Picard, D., Buchberger, S. (eds), Couchsurfing cosmopolitanisms: Can tourism make a better world?. Transcript Verlag, Berlin.
  • Heo, C. Y. 2016. Sharing economy and prospects in tourism research. Annals of Tourism Research, 58, 156–170.
  • Ikkala, T., Lampinen, A. 2014. Defining the price of hospitality networked hospitality exchange via Airbnb. Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (15-19 Şubat 2014), 171-176, Baltimore.
  • Ip, C., Leung, R., Law, R. 2010. Progress and development of information and communication technologies in hospitality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23(4), 533-551.
  • Koszewska, J. M. 2008. Gift, exchange and trust information in modern society on the example of free hospitality networks. Master Thesis, University of Warsaw. 90pp.
  • Lampinen, A. 2016. Hosting together via CouchSurfing: Privacy management in the context of network hospitality. International Journal of Communication, 10, 1581-1600.
  • Larsen, J. 2008. De‐exoticizing tourist travel: Everyday life and sociality on the move. Leisure Studies, 27, 21-34.
  • Latja, P. 2010. Creative travel study of tourism from a socio-cultural point of view: The case of CouchSurfing. Master Thesis, University of Tampere, 82 pp.
  • Lauterbach, D., Truong, H., Shah, T., Adamic, L. 2009. Surfing a web of trust: Reputation and reciprocity on CouchSurfing.com. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering 2002, 346-353, New York.
  • Leung, W. C. 2010. A hospitality exchange network: CouchSurfing in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Anthropologist, 4, 1-23.
  • Liu, X. 2013. Social networking sites’ influence on travelers’ authentic experience A case study of CouchSurfing. PhD Thesis, Middle Tennessee State University. 122pp.
  • Luo, M., Feng, R., Cai, L. A. 2004. Information search behavior and tourist characteristics: The Internet vis-à-vis other information sources. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 17(2-3), 15-25.
  • MacCannell, D. 1973. Staged authenticity: Arrangements of social space in tourist settings. American Journal of Sociology, 79, 589-603.
  • Makeer, E. 2014. Locating friendships in the CouchSurfing community. Master Thesis, University of Leiden, 58 pp.
  • Molz, J. G. 2013. Social networking technologies and the moral economy of alternative tourism: The case of Couchsurfing.Org. Annals of Tourism Research, 43, 210–230.
  • Mowforth, M., Munt, I. 1998. Tourism and sustainability: New tourism in the third world. Routledge Publications, London.
  • O’regan, M. 2009. New technologies of the self and social networking sites: Hospitality exchange clubs and the changing nature of tourism and identity. In, Abbas, Y., Dervin, F. (eds.) Digital Technologies of the Self. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge.
  • Plog, S. C. 1974. Why destination areas rise and fall in popularity. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 14, 55-58.
  • Poon, A. 2003. Competitive strategies for a new tourism. In Cooper, C. (eds.) Classic Reviews in Tourism, Channel View Publications, Clevedon.
  • Pultar, E., 2011. The Role of Geography in Social Networks: CouchSurfing as a Case Study. PhD Thesis, University Of California, 160 pp.
  • Pultar, E., Raubal, M. 2009. Progressive tourism: Integrating social, transportation, and data networks. In Sharda, N. (ed), Tourism Informatics: Visual Travel Recommender Systems, Social Communities and User Interface Design. Information Science Reference, New York.
  • Richards, G. 2002. Tourism attraction systems exploring cultural behavior. Annals of Tourism Research, 29, 1048-1064.
  • Ritzer, G. 2015. Hospitality and Prosumption. Journal Research in Hospitality Management, 5(1), 9-17.
  • Rosen, D., Lafontaine, P. R., Hendrickson, B. 2011. CouchSurfing belonging and trust in a globally cooperative online social network. New Media Society, 1-18.
  • Schor, F. B., Fitzmaurice, C. J. 2015. Collaborating and connecting: The emergence of the sharing economy. In, Reisch, L. A., Thogersen, J. (eds), Handbook on Research on Sustainable Consumption, Edward Elgar Publishing, Northampton.
  • Smith, V. L. (eds) 1977. Hosts and guests: The anthropology of tourism. University of Pennsylvania Press, Pennsylvania.
  • Tan, J. E. 2010. The leap of faith from online to offline: An exploratory study of Couchsurfing.org. In Acquisti, A., Smith, S. W., Sadeghi, A.-R. (eds), Trust and trustworthy computing. Springer, Heidelberg.
  • Trivett, V., Staff, S. 2013. “What the Sharing Economy Means to the Future of Travel” Skift Report, https://skift.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/skift-what-the-sharing-economy-means-to-the-future-of-travel.pdf
  • Tussyadiah, L., Pesonen, J. 2015. Impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation use on travel patterns”. Journal of Travel Research, 55(8), 1022-1040.
  • Uriely, N. 2005. The tourist experience: Conceptual developments. Annals of Tourism Research, 32, 199-216.
  • Urry, J. 2009. Turist Bakışı (Çev. E. Tataroğlu, İ. Yıldız). Bilgesu Yayıncılık, Ankara, (Orijinal Basım Tarihi, 2002).
  • Xiang, Z., Gretzel, U. 2010. Role of social media in online travel information search. Tourism Management, 31, 179-188.
  • Zervas, G., Proserpio, D., Byers, J. 2015. A first look at online reputation on Airbnb, where every stay is above average. SSRN Electronic Journal, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2554500

From accommadition facilities into shared residences and tourists into guests: The case of CouchSurfing

Year 2019, Volume: 28 Issue: 1, 51 - 68, 15.07.2019

Abstract

In today's world, the intensity and diversity of information and communication technologies before, during and after travel has increased. This creates alternatives for the supply of goods and services and information flow, provided by the stakeholders of the modern tourism industry. Hospitality industry is one of the stakeholders created alternatives by individuals, adopting the sharing economy.

Within the scope of the study, CouchSurfing, one of the platforms that constitute the accommodation supply of postmodern tourism activities, has been concentrated. In this context, the general characteristics of the platform users, host, surfer and other experiences (meetings, hangouts and exchange of information and experience) were questioned. In accordance with these inquiries, a qualitative research process was followed and in-depth interviews were conducted with eight participants by taking into consideration the three up-criteria (age, gender and reference) and three sub-criteria (host, surfer and personal references). The data were interpreted by descriptive analysis.

In conclusion, it was determined that participants used the platform to cultural, economic, personal motivations and to escape from traditional tourist images. Reference, profile layout and the content of the sharing request were essential for choosing the surfer while reference, age, common interests and location of the house for determining the host. First-hand advice and tips about living spaces and surroundings, and guidance were provided by the hosts. In this way, the relations between peers came out of the host-guest context and became permanent. The use of the platform in personal travels brought the participants to feel free and creative and to get more pleasure from their travels. Moreoever the travel habits of the participants changed, travel frequencies increased, and the travel times prolonged.


References

  • Airbnb, 2012. https://assets.airbnb.com/press/press-releases/Economic_Impact_Study.pdf
  • Airbnb, 2013. https://www.airbnb.nl/press/news/new-study-airbnb-community-makes-amsterdam-economy-stronger
  • Airbnb, 2014a. https://www.airbnb.nl/press/news/new-study-airbnb-community-generates-61-million-in-economic-activity-in-portland
  • Airbnb, 2014b. https://www.airbnb.nl/press/news/new-study-airbnb-community-generates-51-million-in-economic-impact-in-boston
  • Airbnb, 2015. https://www.airbnb.com.tr/press/news/airbnb-community-tops-1-15-billion-in-economic-activity-in-new-york-city
  • Airbnb, 2018. https://2sqy5r1jf93u30kwzc1smfqt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Airbnb_SouthAfricaEconomicImpactStudy_180831.pdf
  • Andriotisa, K., Agiomirgianakis, G. 2013. Market escape through exchange home swap as a form of non-commercial hospitality. Current Issues in Tourism, 17(7), 576-579.
  • Bialski, P. 2007. Intimate Tourism: Friendships in a State of Mobility - The Case of the Online Hospitality Network. Master Thesis, University of Warsaw, 89 pp.
  • Bialski, P. 2011. Technologies of hospitality: How planned encounters develop between strangers. Hospitality & Society, 1(3), 245–260.
  • Bialski, P., Batorski, D. 2009. From online familiarity to offline trust. In, Zaphiris, P., And, C. S. (eds) Social Computing and Virtual Communities. Taylor & Francis Group, London
  • Botsman, R., Rogers, R. 2010. What’s mine is yours: The rise of collaborative consumption. HarperBusiness, New York.
  • Buhalis, D., Law, R. 2008. Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet-The state of eTourism research. Tourism Management, 29, 609-623.
  • Buhalis, D., Licata, M. C. 2002. The future eTourism intermediaries. Tourism Management, 23, 207-220.
  • Cheng, M. 2016. Sharing economy: A review and agenda for future research. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 57, 60-70.
  • Cockayne, D. G. 2016. Sharing and neoliberal discourse: The economic function of sharing in the digital on-demand economy. Geoforum, 77, 73-82.Cohen, E. 1972. Toward a sociology of international tourism. Social Research, 39, 164-182.
  • Cohen, E. 1979. A phenomenology of tourist experiences. Sociology, 13, 179-201.
  • CouchSurfing About Us. http://www.couchsurfing.com/about/about-us/
  • Dredge, D., Gyimóthy, S. 2015. The collaborative economy and tourism: Critical perspectives, questionable claims and silenced voices. Tourism Recreation Research, 40(3), 286-302.
  • Dujmović, M., Vitasović, A. 2015. Postmodern society and tourism. Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management 3, 192-203.
  • Fang, B., Ye, Q., Law, R. 2016. Effect of sharing economy on tourism industry employment. Annals of Tourism Research, 57, 264–267.
  • Forno, F., Garibaldi, R. 2015. Sharing economy in travel and tourism: The case of home-swapping in Italy. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 16(2), 202-220.
  • Franz, M. 2013. CouchSurfing experiences, reputation, references and decision-making in an online hospitality network. Master Thesis, University of Jyväskylä. 96pp.
  • Garibaldi, R. 2015. Travelling the world sharing your home. ATLAS Annual Conference, Risk in Travel and Tourism (20-23 Ekim 2015), 26-29, Lisbon.
  • Gnevosa, S. 2011. Phenomenon of CouchSurfing as alternative tourism. Master Thesis, Toulouse University. 102pp.
  • Graburn, N. 2013. Anthropology and Couchsurfing variations on a theme (an afterword). In, Picard, D., Buchberger, S. (eds), Couchsurfing cosmopolitanisms: Can tourism make a better world?. Transcript Verlag, Berlin.
  • Heo, C. Y. 2016. Sharing economy and prospects in tourism research. Annals of Tourism Research, 58, 156–170.
  • Ikkala, T., Lampinen, A. 2014. Defining the price of hospitality networked hospitality exchange via Airbnb. Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (15-19 Şubat 2014), 171-176, Baltimore.
  • Ip, C., Leung, R., Law, R. 2010. Progress and development of information and communication technologies in hospitality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23(4), 533-551.
  • Koszewska, J. M. 2008. Gift, exchange and trust information in modern society on the example of free hospitality networks. Master Thesis, University of Warsaw. 90pp.
  • Lampinen, A. 2016. Hosting together via CouchSurfing: Privacy management in the context of network hospitality. International Journal of Communication, 10, 1581-1600.
  • Larsen, J. 2008. De‐exoticizing tourist travel: Everyday life and sociality on the move. Leisure Studies, 27, 21-34.
  • Latja, P. 2010. Creative travel study of tourism from a socio-cultural point of view: The case of CouchSurfing. Master Thesis, University of Tampere, 82 pp.
  • Lauterbach, D., Truong, H., Shah, T., Adamic, L. 2009. Surfing a web of trust: Reputation and reciprocity on CouchSurfing.com. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering 2002, 346-353, New York.
  • Leung, W. C. 2010. A hospitality exchange network: CouchSurfing in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Anthropologist, 4, 1-23.
  • Liu, X. 2013. Social networking sites’ influence on travelers’ authentic experience A case study of CouchSurfing. PhD Thesis, Middle Tennessee State University. 122pp.
  • Luo, M., Feng, R., Cai, L. A. 2004. Information search behavior and tourist characteristics: The Internet vis-à-vis other information sources. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 17(2-3), 15-25.
  • MacCannell, D. 1973. Staged authenticity: Arrangements of social space in tourist settings. American Journal of Sociology, 79, 589-603.
  • Makeer, E. 2014. Locating friendships in the CouchSurfing community. Master Thesis, University of Leiden, 58 pp.
  • Molz, J. G. 2013. Social networking technologies and the moral economy of alternative tourism: The case of Couchsurfing.Org. Annals of Tourism Research, 43, 210–230.
  • Mowforth, M., Munt, I. 1998. Tourism and sustainability: New tourism in the third world. Routledge Publications, London.
  • O’regan, M. 2009. New technologies of the self and social networking sites: Hospitality exchange clubs and the changing nature of tourism and identity. In, Abbas, Y., Dervin, F. (eds.) Digital Technologies of the Self. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge.
  • Plog, S. C. 1974. Why destination areas rise and fall in popularity. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 14, 55-58.
  • Poon, A. 2003. Competitive strategies for a new tourism. In Cooper, C. (eds.) Classic Reviews in Tourism, Channel View Publications, Clevedon.
  • Pultar, E., 2011. The Role of Geography in Social Networks: CouchSurfing as a Case Study. PhD Thesis, University Of California, 160 pp.
  • Pultar, E., Raubal, M. 2009. Progressive tourism: Integrating social, transportation, and data networks. In Sharda, N. (ed), Tourism Informatics: Visual Travel Recommender Systems, Social Communities and User Interface Design. Information Science Reference, New York.
  • Richards, G. 2002. Tourism attraction systems exploring cultural behavior. Annals of Tourism Research, 29, 1048-1064.
  • Ritzer, G. 2015. Hospitality and Prosumption. Journal Research in Hospitality Management, 5(1), 9-17.
  • Rosen, D., Lafontaine, P. R., Hendrickson, B. 2011. CouchSurfing belonging and trust in a globally cooperative online social network. New Media Society, 1-18.
  • Schor, F. B., Fitzmaurice, C. J. 2015. Collaborating and connecting: The emergence of the sharing economy. In, Reisch, L. A., Thogersen, J. (eds), Handbook on Research on Sustainable Consumption, Edward Elgar Publishing, Northampton.
  • Smith, V. L. (eds) 1977. Hosts and guests: The anthropology of tourism. University of Pennsylvania Press, Pennsylvania.
  • Tan, J. E. 2010. The leap of faith from online to offline: An exploratory study of Couchsurfing.org. In Acquisti, A., Smith, S. W., Sadeghi, A.-R. (eds), Trust and trustworthy computing. Springer, Heidelberg.
  • Trivett, V., Staff, S. 2013. “What the Sharing Economy Means to the Future of Travel” Skift Report, https://skift.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/skift-what-the-sharing-economy-means-to-the-future-of-travel.pdf
  • Tussyadiah, L., Pesonen, J. 2015. Impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation use on travel patterns”. Journal of Travel Research, 55(8), 1022-1040.
  • Uriely, N. 2005. The tourist experience: Conceptual developments. Annals of Tourism Research, 32, 199-216.
  • Urry, J. 2009. Turist Bakışı (Çev. E. Tataroğlu, İ. Yıldız). Bilgesu Yayıncılık, Ankara, (Orijinal Basım Tarihi, 2002).
  • Xiang, Z., Gretzel, U. 2010. Role of social media in online travel information search. Tourism Management, 31, 179-188.
  • Zervas, G., Proserpio, D., Byers, J. 2015. A first look at online reputation on Airbnb, where every stay is above average. SSRN Electronic Journal, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2554500
There are 57 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Ersin Demir 0000-0003-3772-8567

Gözde Emekli 0000-0001-8528-5209

Publication Date July 15, 2019
Submission Date April 9, 2019
Acceptance Date July 10, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2019 Volume: 28 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Demir, E., & Emekli, G. (2019). TESİSTEN KONUTA, TURİSTTEN MİSAFİRE: COUCHSURFING ÖRNEĞİ. Ege Coğrafya Dergisi, 28(1), 51-68.