Stakeholders' perceptions towards the barriers and challenges to Airbnb

Purpose - The current exploratory research aims to investigate the barriers and challenges to the use of Airbnb as a sharing economy platform in the most visited destinations, namely Antalya and Istanbul in Türkiye. Methodology - Drawing upon qualitative research, data were gathered through in-situ interviews, which were conducted with tourism stakeholders (n=28). A multiple-case study approach was adopted as the research design, and abductive content analysis was employed to analyze the data. Findings - The study results illustrated multilayered effects towards the challenges and barriers to the sharing economy in tourist destinations, which were grouped into two main themes: 1) regulations and 2) socio-cultural norms. Furthermore, the absence of adequate policy and managerial regulations appears to undermine residents' livability and may trigger social tensions between local residents and tourists, while weakening socio-cultural bonds within neighborhoods. Implications - The results indicate that the existing laws and regulations governing the sharing economy remain insufficient to address issues of trust within local communities. Furthermore, policy-related challenges and socio-cultural norms exist as barriers to the development of the sharing economy in both cities, highlighting the need for more comprehensive regulatory frameworks.