Vacation rental company’s operation and strategy in relation to Airbnb : Case: Catalunya Casas Spain SL

The study aims at acquiring a deep understanding of vacation rental company’s operation and strategies in relation to Airbnb and the environment in which it operates. Specifically, the study is expected to disclose the past and current operating environment of vacation rental company under various effects, such as Airbnb, collaborators, competitors, government, etc. The thesis aims to study which factors that vacation rental company was and is facing, and what their strategies are in order to overcome, survive, and develop. Catalunya Casas Spain SL was used as a representative of a vacation rental company, Airbnb was the next main entity to be researched, as they were believed to be leaving the biggest influence on the vacation rental company. The theoretical data was collected from resources such as literature, reports, and website articles. The theoretical section covers a brief overview of lodging in hospitality industry, changes in the industry and the concepts of homestay and peer-to-peer accommodation. Additionally, the information of Catalunya Casas company, Airbnb and its features as a part of accommodating network sum up the theory part. The empirical part presents the study of the operating situations of vacation rental company, and their strategies in order to keep the business alive, growing strong and growing fast. The primary data of this part was collected via interviews and discussions with professionals of the case company. Qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews was used and believed to optimize the potential of eliciting descriptive view and profound information. The outcomes of this thesis are believed to be able to portray a realistic picture of what vacation rental companies were and are facing. In the globalization world and the industry 4.0, with sharing economy is described as an outstanding phenomenon and Airbnb’s presence in tourism industry, business environment is changing rapidly. Difficulties come from various sources such as competitors, collaborators, local government, international laws, etc, demanding the company to have revolutionary adjustments. Company is paying very much attention to customer experience, as it is the root for their survival and pulling ahead of their competitors. The results can be applied to further investigation in hospitality management, marketing, strategic management, customer relationship