Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 24 ISSUE 3
Written by Elena ILIEVA

Sharing economy has entered the tourism industry and significantly influenced the accommodation activity. P2P-accommodation has become an effective alternative of hospitality and is already one of the most developed sharing industries worldwide. The host is one of the main participants in P2P-accommodation and plays a key role in the P2P-accommodation system. The host’s reasons for participating in sharing services are diverse, but all of them are aiming to improve the host’s wellbeing in different aspects. Sharing economy is a new phenomenon on the Bulgarian market and it is remarkable that its entrance in the accommodation sector is dynamic. Even more, P2P-accommodation already plays a significant role in some rural regions in the country helping the local communities to develop tourism business and creating a livelihood for people. Therefore, the main purpose of the article is to investigate the rural host's perception of the P2P-accommodation influence on their wellbeing on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast as this is the most developed tourist region in the country. Within the current study a specific methodology in four main steps is developed based on variable scientific methods, such as: questionnaire survey, comparative analysis and correlation analysis. The main results show that the rural host’s perception about P2P-accommodation impact on their wellbeing is positive in various ways, but most importantly in economic and social manner. Though, improvement in the P2P-accommodation regulation framework and supply diversity is also needed in terms of its positive development perspectives.

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