Airbnb Unveils Services Experiences And AI Upgrades
Airbnb Broadens Horizons with New Services and Experiences
As part of a significant app update, Airbnb has introduced a new feature allowing travelers to book a variety of services and experiences. These can range from getting a massage or haircut, enjoying a chef-prepared meal, or participating in unique activities. Airbnb clarifies that these new offerings can be added to an existing stay or booked independently.
This isn't Airbnb's first venture into this area. The company had paused an earlier version of experiences in 2023 to refine its core offering of accommodations. Now, Airbnb is once again aiming for customers to look beyond just trip planning.
Strategic Moves: Capturing Traffic and Expanding Market Reach
The initiative is designed to capitalize on the substantial traffic Airbnb's site already attracts. During Airbnb’s Q1 2025 earnings call, CEO Brian Chesky mentioned that its service was accessed by over 1.5 billion devices in the last year. However, he noted that many visitors come to the site without booking a home. This expansion aims to convert more of that traffic into bookings.
Image Credits: Airbnb
This development also positions Airbnb more directly against other travel companies like Tripadvisor, Booking.com, Viator, and GetYourGuide, as well as service platforms such as Yelp.
What to Expect: A Look at New Service and Experience Offerings
Initially, Airbnb will enable users to book services across 10 categories. These include chefs, catering, prepared meals, photography, massages, spa treatments, personal training, hair styling, nail services, and makeup artistry. These services will be available in 100 cities worldwide across eight countries.
While users can utilize services at their accommodation, experiences will typically require travel to a specific venue. Initially, experiences will cover cultural and museum tours; outdoor, watersport, and wildlife activities; food tours and cooking classes; art workshops and shopping experiences; and workout, wellness, and beauty sessions. The company is launching experiences in 19 categories across 1,000 cities globally.
Image Credits: Airbnb
Exclusive Access: Introducing Airbnb Originals
Airbnb is also launching exclusive experiences on its platform called "Airbnb Originals," which involve partnerships with celebrities. Examples include pastry making at French Bastards bakery with chef Raphaelle Elbaz, or playing beach volleyball with Olympian Carolina Solberg on Rio’s Leblon Beach.
Vision for Travel: More Than Just a Place to Stay
"These experiences and services are a way to experience a city like a local. We think that these are natural extensions to home [stays]," Judson Coplan, VP of Product Marketing at Airbnb, told TechCrunch. "What’s great about Airbnb is that you get unique accommodations that you can’t find anywhere else. We think about our new offerings the same way."
Coplan believes that Airbnb Experiences could inspire people to take trips they might not have otherwise considered. Furthermore, he thinks these new offerings can help people discover new activities in their own cities.
The Business Side: Revenue and Host Quality Assurance
Airbnb will take a 15% commission from services and a 20% commission from experiences. Users, however, will see a single price when searching for or booking either. The company states that hosts in these new categories will undergo verification and quality checks, including reviews of their experience, online presence, education, and necessary licenses.
Revamped App: A New Interface for Guests and Hosts
The addition of services and experiences is part of a larger app update. Both guest and host apps will be revamped to accommodate these new categories, among other changes.
Guests will be able to explore and book from the Stay, Services, and Experiences categories. If travelers have an upcoming trip booked, the app will suggest related experiences or services. Hosts, on the other hand, will have enhanced calendar and listings functions to help them manage bookings and offerings.
Connecting Travelers: The Push for Social Features
Airbnb is also preparing to roll out more social features later this year. While the app currently has a group messaging feature for trip planning, it plans to add a group chat feature for people who have participated in an experience together. This will allow them to discuss the experience, share photos and videos, or make recommendations for future trips.
Image Credits: Airbnb
Airbnb hopes this will encourage people to travel more and use its platform for their plans. The company also mentioned it is developing privacy features around these social connections to ensure a safe user experience.
These social features follow last year’s launch of an updated profile page, which allowed users to share more about themselves, including their location, languages spoken, and other personal facts. Coplan noted that after this release, the number of completed profiles on the platform increased by 15x.
"There was a huge increase in a number of people who wanted to share more about themselves. For us, that was a clue that travel is something about connections," he explained. "Whether it’s your host, people you travel with, or people you meet along the way, there is, especially in this moment of time, a desire to connect with other people."
AI Power: Enhancing Customer Service and Future Trip Planning
Mirroring comments previously made by CEO Brian Chesky, Coplan highlighted Airbnb's use of AI to provide customer service. He elaborated that, over time, its AI assistant will evolve into a concierge capable of handling trip planning and providing inspiration.
Earlier this month, Chesky introduced Airbnb’s AI-powered customer service agent. Unlike the previous bot version, which often redirected users to support articles, the new assistant provides answers directly within the chat.
This AI bot is initially available to English-speaking users in the U.S. and is expected to be fully rolled out to this market by the end of the month. Coplan told TechCrunch that the feature will become available in more countries and languages later this year.
He added that Airbnb will continue to add more features to its AI assistant, including personalized answers tailored to a user's trip and booking, and in-line action buttons for quick tasks like canceling a booking.
The updated Airbnb website and its iOS and Android apps are rolling out to all users globally starting today.
