Latest news with #260cities
The Independent
14-05-2025
- The Independent
Everything you can now book on Airbnb: From massages to private chefs
Airbnb has announced that it is expanding beyond just offering short-term holiday lets, and is now providing ' services ' from in-home meals cooked by a professional chef to strength workout sessions with personal trainers while you travel. For the past 17 years, the holiday letting agency has been focusing on helping people list their properties for guests to stay in, whether for business or leisure, across the world. Now, Airbnb is taking its travel experiences even further this summer by launching services across 10 categories that guests can book to enhance their stay. Alongside chef-cooked meals and personal training sessions, Airbnb users can book massages by certified therapists, as well as spa treatments, hair, make-up and nails appointments, and personalised photography sessions to capture memories from their trip. Catering and prepared meals can also be booked if cooking is not on the agenda during your getaway. These services will be launched across 260 cities, with new offerings and locations dropping regularly in the Airbnb app. Service hosts will be vetted by Airbnb for quality and experience, submitting relevant licenses and certificates, and will display their qualifications, offerings and pricing on listing pages. Airbnb says some hosts will be renowned in their fields, including Michelin-starred chefs, award-winning photographers and elite celebrity trainers. The price ranges will vary from service to location, but the holiday lettings agency says many will include an entry offering below $50 (£37.50). While the services can be used on the road, you don't need to stay at an Airbnb to hire a trainer, book a massage or use any other services, as these can also be scheduled at your home. Those who are travelling and want to immerse themselves in a destination can also book an 'Airbnb Experience ', which includes tours and activities led by a local. These could involve food tours, dining experiences, museum exclusions, watersports and wildlife days out or wellness sessions led by a local host. Some experiences that have already launched include discovering how Notre-Dame is being rebuilt through the eyes of Axelle Ponsonnet, an architect from the restoration team, during a trip to Paris, or a tour around Harry Potter filming locations in London with TikTok historian David Harry. The experiences are designed to be social meet-ups, and later this year users will have the ability to see who is going before they book, message the group or individual guests, and stay in touch afterwards. To accommodate the change-ups at Airbnb, the app is getting a makeover. It will give you a detailed itinerary of your check-in details and day-to-day views of what services and experiences you've booked, as well as recommendations when you arrive in the area. Brian Chesky, Airbnb co-founder and CEO, said: 'Seventeen years ago, we changed the way people travel. More than two billion guests later, Airbnb is synonymous with a place to stay. 'With the launch of services and experiences, we're changing travel again. Now you can Airbnb more than an Airbnb. 'People choose hotels for their services. People choose Airbnbs for the space,' added Mr Chesky. 'Now, we're giving you the best of both worlds – amazing homes with services that make them even more special.'
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Airbnb to offer in-house chefs and massages in new-look app
Airbnb says users will now be able to book luxury services like personal trainers, massages and chefs on its redesigned app as it continues to expand beyond its core short-term rentals business."People choose hotels for their services. People choose Airbnbs for the space... now, we're giving you the best of both worlds", the company's chief executive Brian Chesky said in a statement. It comes just weeks after the firm signalled bookings may slow in the US as President Trump's unpredictable trade policies hit consumer hosting more than two billion guests since its launch in 2008, Airbnb has also faced challenges in recent years with some cities moving to ban short-term lets. Airbnb's new services will initially be available in 260 cities, with the company saying they will cost from below $50 (£37.57).The luxury offerings, which include spa treatments, photographers and makeup artists, can also be booked by people who are not staying in Airbnbs. The company's revamped app also includes an updated experiences tab, allowing users to book bespoke tours and activities. That service was first launched in 2016. The new hotel-like features reflect the changing needs of tourists, Gary Bowerman, director of travel marketing firm Check-in Asia told the BBC."Travellers are now thinking much more about how to customise the trip for themselves, not just the actual functional parts of how they get there and where they stay."Another feature of the new app is an originals tab, which offers exclusive experiences across the includes playing beach volleyball in Rio de Janeiro with Olympian Carol Solberg or spending a Sunday with National Football League superstar Patrick options like this are part of a wider trend as tourists seek out off-the-beaten path experiences, said luxury travel consultant Anastasia Oriordan. "There are so many people that have travelled and done so many things, that the benchmark or the goalpost for unique experiences is constantly moving."
Gizmodo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Not Content With Rentals, Airbnb Wants to Be the Airbnb of Everything
Airbnb has managed to do its one thing—short-term rentals—quite well. Despite the damaging ripples it has had in the housing market and the annoyance of steep and once-hidden cleaning fees, the company has managed to grab hold of nearly half of the global booking market. Instead of just continuing to specialize in the thing it was made to do, Airbnb's CEO Brian Chesky wants to turn the platform into an Airbnb for everything, allowing users to book services and experiences like chefs, beauticians, and tours, and more. Chesky went on a bit of a media tour to announce the change, talking to the Wall Street Journal and Wired in the most self-aggrandizing tone imaginable to hype up the shift in vision—but we'll get to the CEO. First, the new Airbnb. Per WSJ, the updated app will now include three icons that will represent homes, experiences, and services. The company has reportedly partnered with over 10,000 vendors operating in 260 cities in 30 countries, according to Wired. They can be booked directly through the app. The company is also adding experiences, which is actually a path that it's been down before but quickly abandoned. The first iteration was called Airbnb Adventures and launched in 2019, offering 'bucket list worthy' experiences hosted by local experts before pausing the feature in 2023 to focus on its core offerings. Apparently, it's done with that focus and is back into the business of sprawling offerings. According to Wired, the company has secured 22,000 experiences in 650 cities this time, including some celebrity-led ones like a promised option to book a seat next to Conan O'Brien in his podcast studio. To help guide people through all of these options, the company also reportedly plans to launch an AI-powered concierge that can help people plan a trip that ropes in unique experiences and services along the way. All of this feels very 2010s Silicon Valley, back when being the 'Uber for anything' was all the rage. That includes the roll out of this announcement, which is centered around Chesky himself, and he has not been shy about leaning into the favored framework of the genius founder who has a singular vision that no one else can capture. Never mind the fact that half of this makeover is a thing Airbnb tried before, and the other half is just the revelation that people sometimes book things other than rental properties. In Wired, Chesky describes sitting down in late 2023 and writing a manifesto for what his company could be: 'I was basically going from room to room just pouring out this stream-of-consciousness manifesto, like Jack Kerouac writing On the Road.' Which, sure man, you can compare your business plan to the defining work of the counterculture movement. That's a choice you can make. Over at WSJ, Chesky went on about 'founder mode'—a set of principles that are supposed to guide Silicon Valley executives but largely amount to encouraging tinkerers and tyrants. He also seems to be going against several of his 'founder mode' principles, including: 'Stay small. Stay flat. Stay functional. Have as few people and as few layers as possible for as long as possible.' Hard to imagine going any bigger and broader than being an 'everything' app. Back to Wired, Chesky declares that he's the spiritual successor to Steve Jobs, a person he never once met: 'I feel like I know him deeply, professionally, in a way that few people ever did, in a way that you only possibly could by starting a tech company as a creative person and going on a rocket ship.' But don't worry, he doesn't see himself at that level yet. He told the Journal, 'I'm more like a disciple. I'm more like a painter who studies Michelangelo. I'm not ever saying I'm going to be Michelangelo, but I believe in that school of thought.' You may have forgotten for a second that this is not an artist, but rather a rich guy who hit it big on one idea and is now trying to parlay that into even more wealth through a relatively obvious (albeit probably unnecessary) pivot positioned as a revolution. Might be worth booking a therapist to work on your ego, my guy.
