The sharing economy will have half of the overall market in 10 years’ time, according to consultants PwC.
Speaking to delegates at the ABTA Travel Convention in Greece, PwC partner David Trunkfield forecast the sharing economy market will grow 30% every year to $335 billion by 2015.
Already, there are 17 sharing economy companies worth over $1 billion, including Airbnb and Uber.
Trunkfield said the growth of the sector is demonstrated by the fact that Airbnb reported 150 million guest stays last year, more than the largest hotel group, Hilton, with 127 million.
However, he said there are some headwinds which could impact sharing economy companies, including regulation, taxation, safety issues and the bad publicity surrounding them.
He urged ABTA delegates to put strategies in place now to deal with the rise of the sharing economy.
Travel companies need to protect their own interests, engage with these businesses and, if necessary, shift their own organisations to adapt to the change in the marketplace, he said.
