UNESCO-listed heritages are less attractive than casinos in Macau: A spatial hedonic analysis of Airbnb prices

UNESCO-listed heritages are less attractive than casinos in Macau: A spatial hedonic analysis of Airbnb prices

The objective of this research is to understand the pricing patterns and the provision of sharing economy based accommodations in the tourist city，Macau. This paper focused on how locations, property attributes, online reviews, amenities, management features, and host attributes determine Airbnb prices in Macau SAR, China. This research employed semiparametric geographically weighted regression model (SGWR, a spatial analysis method) to estimate the total of402 Macau’s Airbnb listings in a hedonic price framework. Findings show that casinos are the stronger factor to drive up Airbnb (including hostels) rooms provision and their prices and the UNESCO-listed heritage attractions have no significant effect on Airbnb prices. Further, residential unit prices are not related with the Airbnb prices in the attraction clusters in Macau. Moreover, SGWR models outperformed OLS models. This research identifies that tourists are willing to pay more accommodation fee nearby casinos rather than heritage attractions. Although Macau was a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, this evidence shows that these world heritage attractions do not really induce accommodation prices significantly. Accordingly, the identity ofMacau is still a gambling paradise rather than a World Heritage site or a cultural city, which is the direction of Macau city development.