An integrated methodological framework to measure tourism seasonality across short-stay accommodations offered via online platforms and hotels

Abstract

This article proposes an integrated methodological framework to measure tourism seasonality that combines overnight stays in hotels and short-stay accommodations offered on digital platforms (including short-term rental properties). The methodology is applied in four phases: (i) seasonal factors to profile the monthly distribution, (ii) max/min ratio and Gini index to quantify annual concentration, (iii) additive decomposition of the Gini index to estimate relative marginal effects by market, and (iv) double decomposition of the Gini index by accommodation type and travellers' origin. The empirical application to six Andalusian destinations shows that the max/min ratio and the Gini index offer similar results. The proposed framework constitutes a flexible methodology that can be applied at different levels: the max/min ratio is ideal for public reports and dashboards, while the Gini index and its simple and double decomposition are more suitable for comparative analysis, policy evaluation, and designing strategies to reduce seasonality, which makes it easier to identify markets with greater deseasonalisation potential.