In recent years, thanks to digital technologies, the sharing economy has gained significant prominence, reshaping various sectors. Among these, the hospitality sector has undergone a profound structural transformation, as the new Airbnb platform has, in just a few years, matched the capacity of traditional accommodation providers. The arrival of Airbnb has highlighted several issues that have been extensively studied by academics: competition and displacement of traditional hospitality, the impact on the property market, the excessive touristification of popular destinations and the touristification of new ones. This article contributes to the ongoing debate by examining the spatial distribution of Airbnb in Italy in 2017–18. The results show that, although the sharing economy is presented as fair and equitable, offering all users the same opportunities, Airbnb turns out to be highly selective, revealing an uneven distribution on both the supply and demand sides. The empirical analysis provides evidence that a) the supply of Airbnb properties is particularly concentrated in urban areas, more so than the supply of traditional accommodation; b) the spatial concentration of revenue is much higher than the spatial density of properties, thus supporting our prediction of an oversupply in areas where entry costs are lower; and c) the supply of Airbnb accommodation tends to be more intense in submarkets where the market share of high-quality hotels is higher.
