Like other tourism subsectors, guided tours have been affected by the emergence of the sharing economy. Although this subsector of tourism is not as well known, it constitutes an interesting scenario for studying these new business models and it is also generating debate. This article analyses the uniqueness of the tourist guide services provided through online platforms under the name of free tours. The study includes a bibliographical revision and it is carried out from a qualitative methodology based on a survey conducted among tourist guide professionals and in-depth interviews. The study analyses the point of view of professionals in the guiding sector from 11 European cities subject to common regulations. It aims to determine how they are affected by the free tours as well as to assess their relationship with this new activity, a complex relationship with many controversial elements in terms of labour, tax and organisation. It will be shown that the free tours respond to the trends of contemporary society but are not an expression of the collaborative consumption among equals, but rather an effective marketing strategy.

与其他旅游子行业一样，共享经济的兴起也对导游产生了影响。尽管这个旅游业子领域的知名度不高，但它构成了研究这些新商业模式的有趣场景，并且也引起了争论。本文分析了以免费旅行的名义通过在线平台提供的导游服务的独特性。该研究包括书目修订，它是根据定性方法进行的，该方法基于对导游专业人员进行的调查和深度访谈而定。该研究分析了来自11个受共同法规约束的欧洲城市的指导行业专业人员的观点。它旨在确定他们如何受到免费旅行的影响，并评估他们与这项新活动的关系，在劳力，税收和组织方面，与许多有争议的要素有着复杂的关系。可以看出，免费旅行是对当代社会趋势的回应，但并不是平等合作消费的一种表现，而是一种有效的营销策略。