Without fanfare or notice often dedicated to its new features, Airbnb has quietly given hosts the option to offer new Experiences for the first time since pausing the submission of new offerings back in April 2023 – and four months ahead of the prior plan to bring them back in 2025. After some industry leaders spotted the update, the decision is making waves on LinkedIn.
“Oh my god… did Airbnb Experiences open again to new hosts?” According to their website… yes!” Mitch Bach is the CEO and cofounder of TripSchool. TripSchool offers educational programs to tour operators and guide.
Airbnb did not announce its relaunch, but confirmed that the option was available Tuesday in a PhocusWire statement. The short-term rental company said it was “delighted” that submissions for experiences are now open again. The company stated that its goal is to offer guests a wide range of unique experiences that reflect the culture and community in cities around the globe. “As Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in our most recent earnings call, we are excited about the future for Experiences and look to share more soon.”
Airbnb’s history of Experiences
Airbnb’s Experiences track, to put it mildly, has had a bumpy road over the past few years. Airbnb paused the addition of new experiences to the site a year after Chesky called experiences a major investment area for the company in 2022.
In May of this year, the company informed about 5,000 tour operators and experience providers that their offerings would be removed from the platform if they did not meet company standards. The news came just one month after Airbnb released its “Icons”, which Chesky called a “new category” of “extraordinary experiences” that sometimes included a hotel stay.
In August, when he announced the company’s Q2 results, Chesky said Experiences will return in 2025 as a part of the company’s expansion beyond stays.
“Next year we will begin to expand Airbnb beyond its core business,” Chesky stated. “And we are going to relaunch the Experiences.”
Chesky had outlined a few key factors at the time for Experiences going forward, including that they needed to be affordable, exclusive to Airbnb, and they needed to be marketed using videos. He said, “”… We’re going completely reimagine the search and discovery engine for cross-selling experiences after you have booked a home.”
Airbnb, according to new information posted about Experiences on the website, offers a dashboard for hosts that allows them to manage payments and schedules. It also provides a $1 million liability insurance policy for host operators. Airbnb states that submissions must “demonstrate expertise” as one of the criteria for listing.
Travel industry leaders react
The move on Tuesday was met with a lot of surprise by those who had expressed their opinions. Madison Rifkin, CEO and founder of Mount, a PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startup for 2023, called the move a surprise given Chesky’s typical “go-big-or-go-bigger” announcement tactic.
“To me, this signals uncertainty—they’re still figuring out what Experiences should be or could evolve into,” said Rifkin.
I do not think Airbnb will follow the traditional path of only selling experience tickets via their platform. When they do make an announcement, I expect it will look completely unlike anything we see currently in the industry.
Brennen Bliss, CEO of travel marketing agency Propellic, weighed in, too, calling the move “wild” in the comments section of Bach’s LinkedIn post. “This is the most incredible product launch, cancellation, relaunch and then launch that I’ve ever witnessed.”
Benjamin Rhatigan is the co-founder and director of strategy at Arrival Projects. This travel marketing and branding company. Bach replied, expressing sympathy towards hosts.
“Forget the customers the poor guides and operators — one day no new applications, then their experience is canceled then next month they can apply again… it’s like being back on the middle school playground not knowing whether you’re in or out with the cool kids.”
To me, this signals uncertainty—they’re still figuring out what Experiences should be or could evolve into.
Success is possible?
Travel industry leaders have spoken out about Airbnb’s plans for Experiences and if it will be successful. When PhocusWire asked them last month, they had mixed predictions. Bach said Airbnb “will find once again” that building a company for short-term rentals is easier than building an experiences platform.
Bach said: “I find it shocking that they claim the lack of success is due to high costs, lack of exclusivity, and video content when I see other platforms flourishing in comparison, with higher prices and open connectivity.”
Bach stated that he hoped Experiences’ new version would address “real problems”, such as product design and supplier support, poor education, and API connectivity.
Christian Watts, CEO at Magpie, was one of those who said that the company would be successful. Airbnb upset many suppliers with its cull this summer. Watts wrote: “But it’s Airbnb.” “Operators are going to line up again for their products. It’s a little vague at the moment, but I believe they can make this work.”
Douglas Quinby, CEO and co-founder of Arival, an experience support firm that specializes in travel, said Airbnb’s impact on this sector was “enormous”. Quinby stated that Airbnb is more than its competitors would admit.
“Our industry now more or less calls what used to be ‘tours and activities’ as ‘experiences’ because of Airbnb.”
He believes that the business has been “subscale” in the Experiences area. He said that he still remains hopeful that “they will figure it out.” If and when they do so, the results could magical. Quinby said that there are still many problems in our industry to be solved.
