At Airbnb, new services and ‘experiences’

Airbnb has hired the hotel industry for 17 years, and now, two billion guests later, the company increases competition. In an announcement of today, Brian Chesky, Chief Executive of Airbnb, said that the company will offer the type of services that is usually found at hotels, including Room service, Spa treatments and personal training, all bookable on the Airbnb Airbnb app. Other services can be meals prepared by professional chef chefs and salon treatments such as her, nails and makeup.

The company has also been presented again Airbnb experiences, The service that tours and events are organized by experts to emphasize authentic cultural, culinary, sports and welfare activities, run by the locals. The first offers are available in 100 cities, including a tour of the recently Restored cathedral of Notre-Dame In Paris with Axelle Ponsonnet, one of the architects who recovered the cathedral after it was partially burned down in 2019. A master class with windows in Tokyo with the chef Saburo Ishigoka and a Lucha Libre training experience with a professional wrestler in other new experiences.

“Airbnb is currently used as a noun and a verb, and it means a place to stay,” said Mr. Chesky in a recent interview. “The question we asked at the time was what if you could be more airbnb than an Airbnb and is essentially in the hands of the greatest possession in your life, which is probably not your home, but your time, passion and skills.”

The company tested the idea when it launched Airbnb experiences in 2016, but was confronted with problems over quality and reliability.

Mitch Bach, the Chief Executive and co-founder of Trip school, An independent organization that trains tour guides said that the main problem with the original rollout was that the experience providers, although deeply embedded in their local culture, missed the professionalism of trained guides.

Airbnb “deliberately shunned tourist attractions, the bread and butter of a marketplace such as Buy your own guide or Viator“Said Mr. Bach.” I think their bet was that around that brand and the genius of Airbnb’s position in the market, they could scale it organically, but they found very clear that they couldn’t. “

In the reboot, Airbnb said that it focuses on quality and professionalism, with rigorous, constant control of the ‘expertise, reputation and authenticity’ of Tour providers.

Mr. Chesky said that the new product is still unique ‘Airbnb’. “We find the most interesting people in the world and design new experiences,” he said, with reference to Notre-Dame Tour as an example of using an expert outside the travel industry to offer a unique lens.

In some cities, Airbnb is launching a line of experiences that the ‘originals’ calls, specially designed for the company. These include cakes with the French bastards bakery Chef Raphaelle Elbaz in Paris, or playing beach volleyball on Rio de Janeiro’s Leblon Beach with the Olympianus Carol Solberg. The company also works with celebrities such as Megan u stallion And Sabrina -Timmerman To organize dancing and glamor sessions.

Airbnb said that many users found the earlier experiences of the company too expensive. For an average price of $ 65 per person, the new experiences are more affordable, Airbnb said, and are easier to organize. With the new app, users can book houses, experiences and services in one place. Once the bookings are confirmed, guests can view and edit a new “Trip mode” their routes. There is also a social component that people can see and communicate with the same experience.

“I always believed that Airbnb was intended to do more than just offering a place to stay,” said Mr. Chesky.

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