Airbnb expands into tours, classes and restaurant reservations
Airbnb has unveiled plans to expand its offering beyond apartments and houses to share.
Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky says the company will be completely transformed as it moves beyond travel activity booking. And it will be generating more revenue than what it’s made under its business model until now.
“The Airbnb you knew as of yesterday will be a minority of our revenue in the future," chief executive Brian Chesky said launching the new platform on Thursday at a company conference in Los Angeles.
"Until now, Airbnb has been about homes. Today, Airbnb is launching Trips, bringing together where you stay, what you do, and the people you meet all in one place. We want to make travel magical again by putting people back at the heart of every trip."
The travel activities booking platform, known as "Trip" will allow hosts in Sydney and cities around the world to request Airbnb to list their activities on the new platform.
It means they can offer services such as a workshop or a tour through a neighbourhood.
Or they can offer samurai swordplay workshop in Tokyo, violin making in Paris, marathon running in Kenya, driving classic cars in Malibu, truffle hunting in Tuscany, vegan cooking class in Miami and burlesque dancing lessons in London.
The possibilities are endless.
It will see people signing up for single-day or multi-day experiences such as food tours, classes, or guided hikes.
Vetting the experiences which make it to the platform, Airbnb will take a commission from each ticket that a host sells through their service.
The plan is for the service to be initially be available in 12 cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Tokyo, and Paris. Airbnb is planning 39 more cities for rollout in 2017 worldwide
The service has yet to be launched in Australian capital cities.
Airbnb brands its classes and tours as "Experiences." These include surfing and camping trips, escape bus adventures, in-home concerts, and immersion in the world of reality television.
These include surfing and camping trips, escape bus adventures, in-home concerts, and immersion in the world of reality television.
The secondary line of revenue will also set up Airbnb to float on the share market as soon as next year.
by Leon Gettler, November 21st 2016
