232 LEGAL IMPACTS OF COVID-19 IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY Certainly, it cannot be denied that as a result of the 2008 economic crisis, a significant number of activities were developed that, previously, existed16, taking advantage of the opportunity provided by technology and the development of the Internet to generate a growing sector that is being demanded by a good part of the population that is more aware of the sustainability of the planet, but also by those who have fewer economic resources. These activities have been based on the wide dissemination, easy marketing and procurement of goods and services through digital platforms, social networks or apps, created for this purpose, and that allow contact between suppliers and customers anywhere in the world in a fast and effective, to incorporate payment gateways often controlled by third parties, resulting for all participants efficient and secure. Tourism has been one of the sectors that have taken most advantage of these new forms of marketing and contracting goods and services, to the extent that one of the activities that have become the sector’s flagship is the reservation of accommodation through prices in houses for tourism or vacation purposes. However, other forms of accommodation have also expanded, which do not involve money in their considerations, such as the exchange of houses or Couchsurfing. These, together with the development of transport platforms, both interurban and urban (Uber or BlaBlaCar, among others), and to a lesser extent other leisure or gastronomic activities, have been shaping a specific sector called, perhaps improperly, collaborative tourism17. Such is its importance that the most prominent tourist destinations, especially the big tourist cities, already include in their offer activities such as accommodation in holiday homes, urban and interurban transport, gastronomy in homes, experience tourism, among others18, all contracted telematically through apps, websites or social networks. 16 In any case, progress must be made because these forms of sharing goods or services are not new since barter and different forms of cooperation for a better distribution of goods or services have been models used by humanity almost since it exists. What has been new is how this is done today, since it no longer requires sharing in a small local and controlled community, with friends, neighbours, within the old and new communes, etc. Instead, the Internet has allowed the globalisation of the supply and demand of these goods and services, making it easier for this activity to be carried out among strangers who may live in areas and countries that are very distant from each other. In this line, ZALE, K., Sharing Property, University of Colorado Law Review, Vol. 87, 2016, pp. 509 et seq. 17 PASCUAL, R., “Turismo colaborativo: ¿un modelo de negocio original?”, published on 13 September 2016, available in: https://www.visionesdelturismo.es/turismo-colaborativo/, points out that we talk about collaborative tourism or P2P tourism (peer-to-peer, between individuals) to refer to a new trend in the way of travelling, based mainly on sharing accommodation, means of transport or personal experiences with other users through platforms where the host publishes his offer and the tourist makes the reservation. 18 A reference to these activities can be found in BULCHAND GIDUMAL, J. & MELIÁN GONZÁLEZ, S., Una guía para entender la economía colaborativa: de clientes-consumidores a individuos-proveedores, op. cit., pp. 42 et seq.
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