Using mobile data to study location and spatial expansion schemes of informal tourist accommodation in Wallonia

Tourism development is transforming the face and the organization of many cities
and countryside. The number of tourists increases, generating huge concentrations in some
places and a spread of places visited and accommodation. Tourism is undergoing major changes
because of the volume of innovations that are intended for it. Approach as a vector of
development, tourism sets off many questions as to how it is redesigned and decided. The
sharing economy is part of these innovations.
This research focuses on the implications of the sharing economy for tourism and destinations.
While several research highlight the economic and social impacts related to the “new”
accommodation, the knowledge of the distribution of overnights stays is currently falsified
because national organisms fail to take into account the huge diversity of less formal
accommodation. Wallonia, as case study, allows us to analyse informal tourist accommodation
in cities of various sizes as well as in rural areas that are considered tourist or not.
To understand the influences of the development of “new” accommodation on host
communities, a first step should to study their location and spatial expansion schemes. First, we
develop with the mobile operator, Proximus, the definitions required to generate the algorithm
to obtain tourists’ overnight stays and arrivals data. The query was constructed in accordance
with the General Data Protection Regulations. Secondly, we conceptualize and give the green
light to the data. Thirdly, databases relating to exchange platforms (Housetrip, AirDNA,
HomeAway...) are consulted as well as official statistics of tourism. These data are compared
with the location data from mobile telephony.
The paper shows the methodology used to analyse tourist accommodation in its entirety from
mobile data and the first results from the comparison with official and exchange platforms
databases.