Title: Platform strategies, ground transportation and tourism: towards perfect mobility?

Authors: Christian Longhi; Sylvie Rochhia

Addresses: Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, 250 Rue A. Einstein, 06560 Valbonne, France ' Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, 250 Rue A. Einstein, 06560 Valbonne, France

Abstract: This paper analyses the implications of the platform economy on the tourism industry, focusing on the ground transportation sector. The shifts from ownership to access and from products to services have induced dramatic changes triggered by the emergence of innovative digital marketplaces. The tourism industry, considered as a sectoral system of production, has been largely disrupted by the emergence of platforms running two-sided markets. The paper highlights and clarifies the diversity through the analysis of the different economic models at work. The paper provides an analytical framework for characterising the market mechanisms and understanding the dynamics of ground transportation in the tourism industry. Finally, the paper illustrates the evolutions from innovations triggered by start-ups usually running a service to the recent platform strategies implemented by large firms or municipalities, aiming to develop transportation solutions addressing the varieties of tourists' preferences, towards perfect mobility or mobility as a service.

Keywords: tourism; ground transportation; sharing; platform economy; platform strategy; mobility.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLTM.2018.097223

International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 2018 Vol.6 No.2, pp.96 - 116

Received: 15 Jul 2017
Accepted: 19 Jan 2018
Published online: 05 Jan 2019 *

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