Airbnb CEO seeks closer ties with K-pop group Seventeen
At a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday, the vacation rental website CEO recalled working with K-pop group Seventeen last year, a project Chesky said had proved to be hugely popular with not only Seventeen fans, but Airbnb travelers as a whole, because of the unique experience it offered.
The collaboration involved locations that had appeared in Seventeen music videos.
"We plan to roll out Seventeen-themed Airbnb programs at major cities," Chesky said at the conference, which followed a meet-and-greet event for 60 preselected Seventeen fans where the K-pop act were one-day-only special Airbnb hosts, celebrating the group's 10th anniversary together with fans.
"Seventeen Airbnb Experience," as the fan gathering was called, was a demonstration of "Airbnb Originals," a celebrity-hosted exclusive experience that is part of "Airbnb Experiences," an ambitious program Airbnb launched in May to focus on unique activities run by local hosts.
The program is to help travelers truly experience their local surroundings with local hosts who know just how to do so, according to Chesky.
"The biggest asset in people's lives is really not their home — it's their time. What if people could share not only their space, but their time with someone else?" Chesky asked.
The latest trip to Seoul by the Airbnb CEO is part of his global tour to promote Airbnb Experiences. Chesky has made stops at Paris, Berlin, Milan and Tokyo. The CEO emphasized that Seoul is a strategic market he personally finds deeply inspirational.
According to Airbnb Korea, bookings on the platform in the country last year soared 20 percent from the previous year. The makeup of international visitors to South Korea is increasingly becoming diverse, the company added without elaboration.
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