Airbnb expands into services and experiences, plans more social and AI features

As portion of a broader app update, Airbnb connected Tuesday introduced a caller diagnostic that allows travelers to publication services and experiences, similar getting a message, haircut, oregon chef-prepared meal, oregon taking portion successful immoderate activity. These caller offerings tin beryllium added to your stay, but they tin besides beryllium booked independently, Airbnb says.

For instance, you could publication a circuit successful a metropolis you’ve traveled to, but wherever you’ve chosen to enactment elsewhere, the institution suggests.

This is not the archetypal clip Airbnb has tried specified a diagnostic — it paused an earlier mentation of experiences successful 2023 to amended its halfway offering of stays. Now, the institution erstwhile again wants customers to spell beyond readying a trip.

The determination is meant to capitalize connected the postulation Airbnb’s tract already receives. During Airbnb’s Q1 2025 call, CEO Brian Chesky said that its work was accessed by implicit 1.5 cardinal devices successful the past year, but pointed retired that galore radical travel to the tract and don’t publication a home.

Image Credits: Airbnb

It besides brings Airbnb much straight successful contention with different question companies specified arsenic Tripadvisor, Booking.com, Viator, and GetYourGuide, and work providers similar Yelp.

Initially, Airbnb allows you to publication services crossed 10 categories, including chefs, catering, prepared meals, photography, massages, spa treatment, idiosyncratic training, hair, nails, and makeup. The services volition beryllium offered successful 100 cities worldwide crossed 8 countries.

While users tin instrumentality vantage of services wherever they’re staying, they volition typically person to question to a venue for the experiences.

Initially, experiences volition see taste and depository tours; outdoor, watersport, and wildlife experiences; nutrient tours and cooking classes; creation workshops and buying experiences; and workout, wellness, and quality experiences. The institution is launching experiences successful 19 categories crossed 1,000 cities successful the world.

Image Credits: Airbnb

Airbnb is besides launching exclusive experiences connected its level called Airbnb Originals, which impact personage partnerships. These see things similar pastry making astatine French Bastards bakery with cook Raphaelle Elbaz, oregon playing formation volleyball with Olympian Carol Solberg connected Rio’s Leblon Beach.

“These experiences and services are a mode to acquisition a metropolis similar a local. We deliberation that these are earthy extensions to location [stays]. What’s large astir Airbnb is that you get unsocial accommodations that you can’t find anyplace else. We deliberation astir our caller offerings the aforesaid way,” Judson Coplan, VP of Product Marketing astatine Airbnb, told TechCrunch implicit a call.

Coplan believes that Airbnb Experiences whitethorn animate radical to question and instrumentality a travel they mightiness not person thought about. Plus, helium thinks that the caller offerings tin pb to radical discovering caller things to bash successful their ain town.

Airbnb volition instrumentality a 15% chopped from services and a 20% chopped from experiences. However, users volition conscionable spot 1 terms erstwhile searching for oregon booking either category. The institution says hosts successful these categories volition spell done verification and prime checks that see their experience, online presence, education, and required licenses.

The summation of services and experiences is portion of a larger app update wherever some the apps for guests and hosts volition beryllium revamped to accommodate the caller categories, among different changes.

Guests volition beryllium capable to research and publication from the Stay, Services, and Experiences categories. And, if travelers already person an upcoming travel booked, the app volition suggest related experiences oregon services. On the different end, hosts volition person a calendar and listings functions that assistance them negociate bookings and offerings.

Airbnb is besides preparing to rotation retired societal features aboriginal this year.

The app contiguous has a radical messaging diagnostic for travel planning, but it plans to adhd a radical chat diagnostic for radical who person been to an acquisition together. That way, they tin speech astir the experience, stock photos and videos, oregon marque recommendations for different trip.

In turn, Airbnb hopes this could pb radical to privation to question much and usage its level to bash so.

The institution says it’s processing privateness features astir these societal connections to make a harmless acquisition for users.

Image Credits: Airbnb

The societal features travel past year’s motorboat of an updated illustration page, which allowed users to picture much astir themselves, including wherever they live, languages they speak, and different facts astir themselves.

Coplan said that aft that release, the fig of completed profiles connected the level accrued by 15x.

“There was a immense summation successful a fig of radical who wanted to stock much astir themselves. For us, that was a hint that question is thing astir connections,” helium explained. “Whether it’s your host, radical you question with, oregon radical you conscionable on the way. There is especially, successful this infinitesimal of time, a tendency to link with different people.”

Scaling lawsuit work with AI

Mirroring comments made by Chesky, Coplan noted however Airbnb is utilizing AI to supply lawsuit service, and how, implicit time, its AI adjunct volition go a concierge that tin grip travel readying and inspiration.

Earlier this month, Chesky introduced Airbnb’s AI-powered lawsuit work agent. Unlike the erstwhile mentation of the bot, which redirected users to a enactment article, the adjunct present provides an reply wrong the chat.

The bot is initially disposable to English-speaking users successful the U.S. and volition beryllium afloat rolled retired by month-end to this market. Later this year, the diagnostic volition go disposable to much countries and languages, Coplan told TechCrunch.

Over time, helium says Airbnb volition adhd much features to its AI assistant, including personalized answers tailored to your travel and booking, and in-line enactment buttons for taking speedy actions, specified arsenic canceling a booking.

The updated Airbnb website and iOS and Android apps are rolling retired to each users globally starting today.