Almost ten years ago, Airbnb had a vision that went beyond being just a platform to reserve vacation homes. Now, with its recent redesign, the company might be taking a significant step towards realizing CEO Brian Chesky’s dream of creating a comprehensive “end-to-end travel app.”
In the past, this online marketplace for vacation rentals has taken steps towards this vision. It introduced “Airbnb Experiences,” which allows users to book tours, classes, and various activities through its platform. Additionally, Airbnb offered a travel magazine, hotel-like services, and curated “adventure” tour packages that encompassed accommodation, transport, and meals.
However, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, just months before Airbnb’s IPO, forced the company to readjust its focus and scale back on some of these ambitious initiatives to concentrate on its core services.
Now, Airbnb is returning to that vision of a full-service travel platform with new features, offerings and a redesign of its app. That includes a new “Airbnb Services” section where users can book chefs, masseuses, personal trainers and other types of service professionals to come to their Airbnb.
The new offerings could make Airbnb more competitive with travel platforms such as Expedia and Kayak, as well as with hotels, which can draw customers away from home stays with amenities such as restaurants and spas.
“One of the reasons why people don’t always want to stay with Airbnb (is) because we didn’t necessarily have all these other activities that you could do around the stay that maybe some more traditional hospitality has,” Airbnb Chief Business Officer Dave Stephenson told CNN in an interview ahead of the announcement on Tuesday.
“We’ve been talking about expanding beyond the core for a long time. We now finally get to show it,” he said.
The announcement comes at an uncertain time for the travel industry, with concerns about the economy threatening to cause a slowdown in consumer spending on things like trips and experiences.
Earlier this month, despite a strong first quarter earnings report, Airbnb warned investors that growth in bookings could slow in the current quarter and that its average daily rate (how much it earns per one-night booking) would be flat year-on-year. The company has also faced lawsuits over privacy issues and increasing restrictions from local government in recent years. Airbnb shares (ABNB) have fallen more than 10% from a year ago, but are up 2% since the start of the year.
Giving users more to do on vacation
Starting on Tuesday, users can book service professionals directly from the Airbnb app through the new Services tab. There are 10 categories of services, including prepared meals, hair and make-up artists, and photographers, who will come to users’ Airbnb rentals.
For example, users can book a photographer for a “street style” photoshoot in Paris, or a personal chef for a barbecue meal in Austin, Texas. The company says service providers must apply and provide proof of experience and professional licenses before they can be listed on the app.
Service professionals can also go to users’ homes or other locations if they’re not staying at an Airbnb rental – a way to keep people using the site even when they’re not traveling. The feature will be available in 100 cities around the world to start.
The company is also revamping its Experiences section by adding new, exclusive offerings called “Airbnb Originals.”
Stephenson said Airbnb has teams around the world to work with locals to create experiences, such as a tour of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris with an architect who worked on its restoration, or a pastry-making class at The French Bastards bakery.
“They are in cities, literally on the ground, reaching out to the most creative, most amazing people. We can do things like search social media and then there’s also just word of mouth,” Stephenson said of the company’s acquisition teams, adding that experiences will now be available in 1,000 cities around the world.
Unlike some existing Airbnb Experiences, the new “originals” offerings won’t be bookable on other platforms like Tripadvisor or Viator. Users can also see the other people who have booked an experience and stay in touch and share photos on a message thread with the group afterward through the app (with privacy opt-outs available).
In keeping with the goal of creating a full-service travel app, Airbnb’s “Trips” tab will now look a bit more like a full-service travel planner.
Once users book a place to stay, they’ll automatically get recommendations for experiences and services in the area, and anything they book will show up in a timeline along with their stay details, check-in and check-out instructions, and other trip information.
“On the experiences front, this should be able to replace somebody going out to dinner for the weekend. They might now take a dining experience,” Stephenson said. “Or instead of going out to for a drink with friends, they could actually go on an experience to go wine tasting.”
And as for the current economic uncertainty, Stephenson said slowdowns can mean more hosts listing properties or experiences on the platform to earn extra income. The platform can also offer more cost-effective options for consumers in times of financial insecurity, he added.
“We also find that more people are more discerning about where they stay … It actually can be a help to our business,” he said.
