As a part of a broader app replace, Airbnb on Tuesday launched a brand new function that enables vacationers to guide companies and experiences, like getting a message, haircut, or chef-prepared meal, or participating in some exercise. These new choices may be added to your keep, however they may also be booked independently, Airbnb says.
As an example, you may guide a tour in a metropolis you’ve traveled to, however the place you’ve chosen to remain elsewhere, the corporate suggests.
This isn’t the primary time Airbnb has tried such a function — it paused an earlier version of experiences in 2023 to enhance its core offering of stays. Now, the corporate as soon as once more needs clients to transcend planning a visit.
The transfer is supposed to capitalize on the visitors Airbnb’s web site already receives. Throughout Airbnb’s Q1 2025 name, CEO Brian Chesky stated that its service was accessed by over 1.5 billion gadgets within the final yr, however identified that many individuals come to the positioning and don’t guide a house.
It additionally brings Airbnb extra straight in competitors with different journey firms similar to Tripadvisor, Reserving.com, Viator, and GetYourGuide, and repair suppliers like Yelp.
Initially, Airbnb permits you to guide companies throughout 10 classes, together with cooks, catering, ready meals, images, massages, spa remedy, private coaching, hair, nails, and make-up. The companies might be supplied in 100 cities worldwide throughout eight nations.
Whereas customers can make the most of companies the place they’re staying, they may usually need to journey to a venue for the experiences.
Initially, experiences will embrace cultural and museum excursions; out of doors, watersport, and wildlife experiences; meals excursions and cooking courses; artwork workshops and purchasing experiences; and exercise, wellness, and wonder experiences. The corporate is launching experiences in 19 classes throughout 1,000 cities on this planet.
Airbnb can be launching unique experiences on its platform referred to as Airbnb Originals, which contain movie star partnerships. These embrace issues like pastry making at French Bastards bakery with chef Raphaelle Elbaz, or taking part in seashore volleyball with Olympian Carol Solberg on Rio’s Leblon Seaside.
“These experiences and companies are a technique to expertise a metropolis like a neighborhood. We expect that these are pure extensions to dwelling [stays]. What’s nice about Airbnb is that you simply get distinctive lodging you can’t discover anyplace else. We take into consideration our new choices the identical means,” Judson Coplan, VP of Product Advertising at Airbnb, instructed TechCrunch over a name.
Coplan believes that Airbnb Experiences might encourage individuals to journey and make a journey they may not have considered. Plus, he thinks that the brand new choices can result in individuals discovering new issues to do in their very own city.
Airbnb will take a 15% minimize from companies and a 20% minimize from experiences. Nevertheless, customers will simply see one worth when looking for or reserving both class. The corporate says hosts in these classes will undergo verification and high quality checks that embrace their expertise, on-line presence, training, and required licenses.
Airbnb’s new app provides a social play
The addition of companies and experiences is an element of a bigger app replace the place each the apps for friends and hosts might be revamped to accommodate the brand new classes, amongst different modifications.
Friends will be capable to discover and guide from the Keep, Companies, and Experiences classes. And, if vacationers have already got an upcoming journey booked, the app will counsel associated experiences or companies. On the opposite finish, hosts can have a calendar and listings capabilities that assist them handle bookings and choices.
Airbnb can be getting ready to roll out social options later this yr.
The app as we speak has a bunch messaging function for journey planning, but it surely plans so as to add a bunch chat function for individuals who have been to an expertise collectively. That means, they’ll speak in regards to the expertise, share photographs and movies, or make suggestions for one more journey.
In flip, Airbnb hopes this might lead individuals to need to journey extra and use its platform to take action.
The corporate says it’s growing privateness options round these social connections to create a secure expertise for customers.
The social options comply with final yr’s launch of an up to date profile web page, which allowed customers to explain extra about themselves, together with the place they reside, languages they converse, and different information about themselves.
Coplan stated that after that launch, the variety of accomplished profiles on the platform elevated by 15x.
“There was an enormous enhance in a variety of individuals who wished to share extra about themselves. For us, that was a clue that journey is one thing about connections,” he defined. “Whether or not it’s your host, individuals you journey with, or individuals you meet alongside the way in which. There’s particularly, on this second of time, a need to attach with different individuals.”
Scaling customer support with AI
Mirroring feedback made by Chesky, Coplan famous how Airbnb is utilizing AI to supply customer support, and the way, over time, its AI assistant will turn into a concierge that may deal with journey planning and inspiration.
Earlier this month, Chesky launched Airbnb’s AI-powered customer support agent. Not like the earlier model of the bot, which redirected customers to a assist article, the assistant now gives a solution inside the chat.
The bot is initially out there to English-speaking customers within the U.S. and might be totally rolled out by month-end to this market. Later this yr, the function will turn into out there to extra nations and languages, Coplan instructed TechCrunch.
Over time, he says Airbnb will add extra options to its AI assistant, together with customized solutions tailor-made to your journey and reserving, and in-line motion buttons for taking fast actions, similar to canceling a reserving.
The up to date Airbnb web site and iOS and Android apps are rolling out to all customers globally beginning as we speak.