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A large share of growth in the sharing or platform economy is driven by peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation providers such as Airbnb. The literature argues for both positive and negative socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts emanating from the tourism and hospitality businesses and value chains that are dependent on AirBnB and other online platforms. These impacts are felt in terms of competition with more traditional business models (e.g. hotels, motels and B&Bs) and their influence on tourist and visitor flows as well as their spatial impacts that has led to substantial community opposition to accommodation providers that utilise Airbnb in some destinations. This introduction to the special issue on AirBnB and the sharing economy identifies several themes in the consumption and production of the sharing, peer-to-peer and platform economies on tourism at various scales, ranging from international networks, destinations and business, through to neighbourhoods and individuals. Although Airbnb provides the primary frame by which to investigate the relationships between the sharing economy and tourism and the implications of so-called disruptive innovation this introduction also notes some of the wider implications of the sharing and platform economy for people and places.

In the last two decades, the retail sector has experienced unprecedented upheaval, having severe implications for economic development and sustenance of traditional inner-city retail districts. In the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, this effect has been exacerbated by a series of earthquakes in 2010/2011 which destroyed much of the traditional retail precinct of the city. After extensive rebuild activity of the city's infrastructure, the momentum of retailers returning to the inner city was initially sluggish but eventually gathered speed supported by increased international visitation. In early 2020, the return to retail normality came to an abrupt halt after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses spending and transaction data to analyze the compounding impact of the earthquake's aftermath, shift to online shopping, and the retail disruption in the Christchurch central retail precinct because of COVID-19. The findings illustrate how consumers through their spending respond to different types of external shocks, altering their consumption patterns and retail mode (offline and online) to cope with an ever-changing retail landscape. Each event triggers different spending patterns that have some similarities but also stark differences, having implications for a sustainable and resilient retail industry in Christchurch. Implications for urban retail precinct development are also discussed.