City characteristics that attract Airbnb travellers: evidence from Europe

Abstract

This paper investigates the reviews posted by Airbnb customers in order to assess the customer satisfaction, and to understand the criteria of Airbnb customers in short-term accommodation rentals. The objective is to determine the characteristics that customers find important, and to provide the typologies of cities from the customer perspective. The analysis holds under scope the five most touristic cities in Europe. The opinion of Airbnb customers were retrieved from the Airbnb website. First, the satisfaction was assessed using sentiment analysis. Second, main characteristics that describe the tourism experience were defined through a set of Exploratory Factor Analysis. Next, segmentation of cities according to these features was settled. Results indicate that Airbnb customers are satisfied with the service they use, and that their choice of short-term accommodation on Airbnb is a multi-criterion decision process. The results of our research are of utmost importance for governmental institutions, tourism agencies, and Airbnb.