(Credit: Airbnb)
Airbnb has taken a major step forward in its journey to become an all-in-one travel booking app. The app now lets you book service providers, such as chefs, trainers, or hairstylists, and experiences, such as cooking classes, museum tours, water sports, and more for your trips.
"People choose hotels for their services. People choose Airbnbs for the space… Now, we're giving you the best of both worlds—amazing homes with services that make them even more special," says Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb.
The updates are live on the latest version of the app, with the homepage showing two new tabs: Experiences and Services.
Services at Your Doorstep
At launch, Airbnb's services are spread across 10 categories in 260 cities, with more to be added later on. You can now get chefs, photographers, massages, spa treatments, personal trainers, hairstylists, makeup artists, nail specialists, ready-to-eat meals, and catering services delivered to your Airbnb.
(Credit: Airbnb)All service providers will have an average of 10 years of experience, Airbnb says. They will be added to the app only after they complete an internal verification process and submit relevant licenses and certifications. Those looking to enroll as service providers can submit an application on Airbnb's website.
While booking, users will be able to view each host's qualifications, offerings, and pricing on the details page. In our time with the app so far, we even found portfolios of photographers on their details page. Airbnb says that many services will have an entry-level option of $50 or less.
Experiences: Explore Like a Local
The Experiences tab is designed to help you move around a city with locals who know it the best. At launch, the feature is available in 650 cities, with more being added every day.
A quick look at the tab displayed the experiences available for each popular tourist city around us. Airbnb classifies its experiences into these categories: landmark, museum, and other cultural trips; food tours, cooking classes, and dining experiences; outdoors, water sports, and wildlife experiences; gallery tours, art workshops, and shopping experiences; workout, wellness, and beauty experiences.
(Credit: Airbnb)Like Services, you can select your preferred Experiences after learning about who is hosting them, what they entail, and how much they'd cost. We looked into a cultural trip around Goa, and we could see the name, rating, and reviews of the host, in addition to the places included in the trip and the time required. If you're interested in hosting such experiences, Airbnb is accepting applications for that, too.
The platform has also launched a premium version of Experiences called Airbnb Originals, hosted by celebrities. You can get beach volleyball lessons from Olympian Carol Solberg in Rio de Janeiro or pastry-making lessons from chef Raphaelle Elbaz in Paris. Airbnb is also promising a day on set with pop star Sabrina Carpenter in the future.
A future update to the app coming later this year aims to make it more social. Airbnb says you'll be able to see who has taken the experience before and ask them about it "with simple and transparent privacy controls."
Along with the introduction of new features, Airbnb has made several other changes to its app experience. For example, the Messages tab now lets you share photos and videos, and the Profile tab adds a list of your past trips and people you have met.
All of the above updates are part of a $200+ million Airbnb revamp that's just kicked off. The next two stages involve making your Airbnb profile more robust so it's "almost like a passport" and the inclusion of more AI tech, Chesky tells Wired.