Airbnb to compete with UberEats and TripAdvisor in ambitious rebrand
Airbnb wants to be the single site for all your beauty, wellness and food whims - and not just while you travel. Ahead of summer, the company has launched a suite of new features and services that manages to be both ambitious and suspiciously familiar.
Airbnb CEO, Brian Chesky, has a bold idea to make the term 'Airbnb' synonymous with more than just booking accommodation. In fact, the company's new plans seek to effectively change the modern lexicon in favour of making 'Airbnb' the all-encompassing verb for sourcing convenient and reliable services.
In May 2025, the company launched new features, including Airbnb Services, Airbnb Experiences, and a new app to make conducive to connecting with other users and decentring short-rental booking.
While Airbnb Experiences is nothing particularly new, Airbnb Services is new territory for the company as it looks to expand its influence. Airbnb is looking to match the services offered by hotels - like room service, fully stocked gyms and in-house spas - by allowing users to book those services through their platform.
Airbnb has launched Services with 10 categories in 260 cities, with new offerings and locations dropping regularly in the app. You can now 'Airbnb' in-home meals from professional chefs or a massage from certified therapists.
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A major part of the brand shift for Airbnb is decoupling its experiences and services from travel abroad. To that end, users will be able to book Services in their own city, without needing to schedule a trip or accommodation first.
The company says its Services hosts have been 'vetted for quality through an evaluation of expertise and reputation'. Services hosts reportedly have an average of 10 years of experience and have completed Airbnb's identity verification process. To cement its reputation for top-tier services, all hosts are also required to submit relevant licenses and certifications.
There's quite a bit more to Chesky's ambitious plans for the future of the company, including new social and messaging features and advanced user profiles that function 'almost like a passport ', as reported by Wired.
In a recent profile with the publication, Chesky said: 'I'm 43 and at a crossroads, where I can either be almost done or just getting started. There's a scenario where I'm basically done. Airbnb is very profitable. We've kind of, mostly, nailed vacation rentals. But we can do more.'
The bold rebrand dropped amidst a major crackdown of Airbnbs in Spain which saw the removal of nearly 65,000 holiday listings from the platform.
Just days after the company announced its new suite of services, it was revealed around 65,935 Airbnb properties would be delisted for breaking strict regulation rules such as not including their licence number, failing to specify whether the owner was an individual or a company, or because their listed numbers did not match official records.
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