Spoke 3 participates in the conference "Tertiarization & sustainability. New challenges for management in the digital era"

The research group from the Department of Economics and Cultures of the University of Insbruria, coordinated by Professor Roberta Minazzi, recently presented the paper "Substitutability Relationship between Sharing Economy Accommodation and Hotel Businesses" at the Sinergie-SIMA conference entitled "Tertiarization & Sustainability. New Challenges for Management in the Digital Era" (Genoa, June 12-13, 2025) as part of the PNRR NODES – Spoke 3 Tourism and Culture project.

In recent years, the sharing economy has assumed a prominent role within the traditional tourism system, altering competitive dynamics and raising questions about the impact that short-term rental accommodations have on hotels and the destination as a whole.

The study focuses on the Lake Como area, a region that has seen significant growth in accommodation facilities managed according to sharing economy models. Through a survey based on questionnaires administered to a sample of 104 tourists, the research highlighted the presence of a substitution effect limited primarily to medium- to low-end hotels.

Among the factors driving travelers to prefer short-term rentals are the greater affordability and strategic location of the available solutions, elements that suggest the need for some hotel businesses to rethink their differentiation and market positioning strategies.

This contribution is part of the research activities promoted by Spoke 3 Tourism Industry and Culture of the PNRR NODES project, with the aim of providing useful analysis and tools to support the sustainable and competitive development of the Italian tourism sector.