Can Airbnb Experiences Stand Out? It’s Betting on Quality

Airbnb is betting that standing out in a crowded field of experience platforms comes down to quality. Its strategy is to focus on “unique experiences” and to emphasize local providers that have been vetted.

Airbnb has “learned a lot about experiences over the last few years,” said Chief Business Officer Dave Stephenson, who was speaking at the Skift Asia Forum just two days after the company relaunched its experiences product. Airbnb first tried offering experiences in 2016 and again in 2022, but it had paused those efforts.

“We’ve learned that people really desire them. But we need to make sure they are unique, different, and of the city,” Stephenson said.

The latest experiences offerings are centered around curated activities hosted by what Stephenson called “the world’s most interesting people doing amazingly interesting things.”

These curated experiences, called Airbnb Originals, include learning to make ramen with Michelin-starred chefs in Tokyo, or an experience with singer with Megan Thee Stallion.

“We don’t just let any experience onto Airbnb,” Stephenson said. “We’re only bringing on experience hosts that know the city best.”

‘Eliminating Reasons’ Not to Stay With Airbnb

Airbnb is also expanding into travel-related services such as personal chefs, photographers, and fitness trainers, services that replicate amenities often found in hotels but are now bookable through the Airbnb app. 

“There are many reasons why you might want to go to a hotel to use the spa or gym,” Stephenson said. “Well now you can bring your personal trainer or prepared meals or a chef to you.”

These offerings are not tied to an Airbnb booking. “You can do it in your Airbnb, in your own home, at the person’s location,” he said.

All bookings — stays, services, and experiences — are integrated under the “Trips” tab in the Airbnb app. “It makes it easy to find, easy to know where to be, when, and then it just makes the entire experience better.”

“We’re just trying to make sure the stay is better, we’re eliminating reasons why people wouldn’t want to stay in Airbnb,” he added.

“We’re trying to make these really approachable and affordable things you can do in your own town. Maybe you don’t even need to travel and you can take an experience on a Saturday night,” Stephenson said.

The average price of an experience is now $66 dollars, he said, with 50% of the platform’s new services offerings priced under $50. 

Growing Local Travel Markets

Airbnb is focusing on supporting travel markets differently in each community, Stephenson said. 

China is one of the top five outbound travel markets and Airbnb is focusing on “making sure we support outbound Chinese travelers in the place they love to travel, like Korea and Japan,” highlighting experiences offerings like K-Pop band concerts, he said.

“In Korea, we need to make sure we show up locally – so we’ve added Navar Pay,” Stephenson said. Navar Pay is a mobile payment service popular in Korea. 

In Japan, where Stephenson noted “very few people actually know about Airbnb”, the company launched its first brand campaign last year. 

“We’ve started to communicate it and talk to Japanese travelers that like to travel nearby, near their home, to get away for the weekend, about why Airbnb is a good way to do it.”

“Now we have a significant increase in the number of Japanese people that consider Airbnb as a way to travel. We have different approaches in each community and it’s working really well,” he said.