Abstract
New innovations and digitalisation are altering the traditional models of doing business leading to changes on the operations and landscape of many industries including transport, travel, and accommodation. The latter was the subject of interest for this study. South African accommodation value chain has historically been dominated by hotels accumulating more than 70% of the industry revenue. Against this backdrop, this study used a case study of Airbnb to investigate how its introduction has impacted on the routes to market for small businesses, and entrants in the South African accommodation industry. This study adopted a mixed research methodology that entailed documentary analysis and descriptive statistics. The former focused mainly on the Airbnb South Africa annual reports and the ongoing market inquiry of online platforms by the Competition Commission of South Africa, while the latter focused on the trend patterns of occupancy rates, average daily rates, and supply dynamics (available rooms and the number of hosts). The results of the study suggest that Airbnb online platform has provided an opportunity for small business or entrants to enter the accommodation industry either as an accommodation host or an experienced provider. This evidence revealed Airbnb online platform has facilitated access to the accommodation industry market by reducing costs. For example, there are no switching costs and Hosts are not restricted from having listings with other online platforms. The technological platform has also introduced an academy that provides hosts with a platform from which to learn and share experiences that have benefited small businesses and entrants in the accommodation industry.