Sharing Economy in Tourism and The Poor: An Explorative Study of Opportunities and Threats

This study is intended to promote and disseminate the inclusive sharing economy model in the tourism sector, which allows for new flows of opportunities for the poor and low-income communities. It focuses on Egypt with the aim to explore the prospects of opportunities and threats associated with the model practices in the tourism sector for the poor. The study begins with a review of the latest academic literature, electronic articles and the media on sharing economy in tourism and the poor with presentation of global models and evidences. A survey is designed to explore current practices of sharing economy in tourism and the associated opportunities and threats for the poor in Egypt. results reveal that sharing economy in tourism in Egypt can provide economic and social opportunities for the poor, and it can also carry threats to the poor. The main opportunities offered by the model to the poor in Egypt are: enabling people to increase their income, providing new access to tourism services for those who couldn’t previously afford it, as well as stimulating community capacity- building and development. The most likely threats are negative effect on the image of Egypt by low quality services, as well as the risk of misuse of user's information on platforms. The study concludes with recommendations for enhancing the practices of sharing economy in tourism activities in Egypt, maximizing the opportunities and limiting the associated threats of sharing economy activities in tourism to the poor, and for future researches.