Sharing economy, tourism and sustainability
There is a link between Sharing economy and sustainability, in particular because the mediator between demand and request is disappearing, there are many examples in particular in the tourism sector.
Reading about Sharing Economy in many ways has reminded me about a couple of Italian examples one is a different way to see and to organise the tourism, the second is more a choice of lifestyle.
I will start telling you a special model of accommodation well known in Italy: the Albergo Diffuso.
“Albergo Diffuso”: residential areas in the old town centres are salvaged and organized as hotel facilities.
During my studies, I discovered it is much more. It is a model of sustainable development for small towns in danger of disappearing because of the lack of jobs and work opportunities and no proper assistance from the government (inexistent public transport, for instance). This situation could produce the depopulation of many disadvantaged areas, even if they are beautiful and healthy places to live.
The name Albergo Diffuso was born in 1982 in Carnia where a town was destroyed by a earthquake, the renovation of the houses allowed people not to abandon their home. The local community started a new kind of tourism offering to the guests the opportunity to stay in widespread accommodation. In summary , the local community decided to share their habits and daily life with strangers.
This model of accommodation has been the subject of my master degree thesis and hopefully it will be the subject of project to develop on Lake Como area, in Italy.
The second example is a cohousing project that is work in progress in Como by L’Isola che c’è a no profit association who is operating since 2005 in Como area
Cohousing Camnago Volta is the first project of cohousing proposed in Como, it will also be a restoration project, this will make it a sustainable project . The building that will be restored is a property in Camnago Volta, a village located 2 kilometers from the city center.
The proposed building for the project is an historical building, it will be restored maintaining as much as possible of the existing structure and focusing on improving the quality of energy, with 110 square meters of courtyard, a wooded property on the back and the most important 155 square meters of common areas to be used according to the wishes and needs of future cohousers.
The preliminary draft expects 9 units, as flexible as possible will allow you to decide the size of the single unit on the basis of families who join and within the constraints dictated from the existing structure.
The destination of the common areas and the final cut of the apartments will be the result of the involvement of the participants.
The restructuring is expected to last approximately one year after the signing of preliminary contracts, the indicative delivery of housing units is in the spring-summer 2016.
See more in Italian at: http://www.lisolachece.org/pagina/cohousing-Camnago-volta#sthash.vElva8DE.dpuf
The Sharing Economy & the tourism sector
Is the Sharing Economy born first or is the desire of people to live like local that has brought the Sharing Economy into tourism sector?
According to the smarter travel article “How the sharing economy opens new doors for travelers” not only the concept of home sharing is not new, but it has started very successful examples of business, like the pre internet business in 1992, HomeExchange a house-swapping service has been connecting traveling homeowners for decades.
I agree with this statement from the same article: “Staying in someone’s home—as opposed to booking a hotel—can make a vacation more affordable and add convenience, both in terms of perks and personal interactions. Kushins says, “You can save on food bills by not eating at a restaurant for every meal, and there are no early check-in or checkout rules; plus you get personal instructions and accommodations and get to meet people, often friends of the exchange partner”.
Share a ride, share a meal, share an experience are nowadays the keywords and life motif of what is considered best tourist experience. The tourists know what makes the difference in every experience. The difference is always the people you meet, the people you speak to, the people whom you learn from.
In conclusion, there are several factors that have made and make the Sharing Economy completely in line with the travelers needs, the most important:
– economic reasons,
– a less active local social life in general due to the huge growth of new technologies and
– the opportunity to expand the boundaries through a “virtual” social life: the new technologies in fact allow people to know, meet and keep contact with others from different cultures, all over the world.
We are used to travel and to be in contact with people from other countries for work, school, friendship or simply because they are in the news everyday. The most of the people want to know everything about their culture, see where they live and how it is to live their life, at the less expensive price.
Sharing Economy introduction
Dear readers,
today I would like to share with you a reflection about the so called “Sharing economy” a new way of life in many expert’s opinion.
I believe we need to start not consider it a “new way” or a “new system”, but a global way of life. I completely agree to what is reported on the New York Times article “Sharing Economy Faces Patchwork of Guidelines in European Countries” published the 21st of September 2014 where Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, the Portuguese secretary of state for tourism, said his government had studied the response to Airbnb in places like Barcelona and Amsterdam and concluded that “in a digital world, this is an unstoppable movement”.
Thanks to internet the sharing economy is arrived in every country and in every sector of our life, but the economic crisis is, in my opinion, the main reason for its growth. The Sharing Economy includes the shared creation, production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services by different people and organisations ( Matofska, Benita. “What is the Sharing Economy?”. www.thepeoplewhoshare.com. The People Who Share Blog. Retrieved 29 July 2014).
Co-working, co-creation, crowd funding, car sharing, co-housing are only few examples of what is included, but even more important analyzing each one of them it is very easy to see how much past habits are involved with this “new” movement.
The real innovation is the co-creation: a form of economic strategy that emphasizes the generation and ongoing realization of mutual Company-Customer value. It views markets as platforms for firms and active customers to share, combine and renew each other’s resources and capabilities to create value through new forms of interaction, service and learning mechanisms. (Wikipedia).
Coworking is a style of work that involves a shared working environment, often an office, and independent activity. Unlike in a typical office environment, those coworking are usually not employed by the same organization. (Foertsch, Carsten (2011-01-13), The Coworker’s Profile).
In Italy, for example, there are shared spaces generally for youths where is possible to play, to discover the arts and where to learn how to do manual work.
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet (Oxford Dictionary Definition of Crowdfunding”. Retrieved July 23, 2014).
Doesn’t it remind the way charities and not profit always did their projects, except for the internet side?
A cohousing community is a type of intentional community composed of private homes supplemented by shared facilities. The community is planned, owned and managed by the residents – who also share activities which may include cooking, dining, child care, gardening, and governance of the community. Common facilities may include a kitchen, dining room, laundry, child care facilities, offices, internet access, guest rooms, and recreational features.
The cohousing is one of the most ancient why of life at least for students in UK, USA and Australia where during the college time there is the habit to live inside the campus with all the other students, from different place of the country.
Carpooling (also car-sharing, ride-sharing, lift-sharing and covoiturage), is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car. (Wikipedia)
Have you ever planned trip with some friends and split the cost of the fuel? This is the concept.
The economic crisis has increase the needs of savings and all the aspects of the life listed above are in some way linked to save money and have a more open social life.
Interested to know more about Sharing Economy?
Sara