Last updated on January 8th, 2017 at 07:16 pm
A while back I wrote a post on Airbnb’s beta test of City Hosts. It’s official, this morning Airbnb launches World of Trips a complete “trip platform.”
Basically, this announcement is the full launch and integration of City Hosts with its accommodation app.
What does this mean?
Airbnb let’s you plan your entire trip with in their app – from accommodation to tours (aka “experiences”). In other words, you can now experience a place with a local that shares your “passions”, or that will teach you about a their “passion”.
Passion is the word Airbnb uses for interests. They are really big on passion.
Airbnb has expanded their app/website to offer the option to book experiences.
Airbnb is focused changing the face of travel to help people experience life in a new location – i.e, something more than being shuffled around in a large group looking at landmarks for 30 seconds before moving onto the next stop.
I guess to me it is the difference between checking something off a list and really experiencing it.
How does it Work?
Just update your existing app or download the app for the first time.
You can chose experiences based on “passions” aka interests (sports, social impact, nature, food etc), location (cities), intensity (less than 3 hours, more than 3 hours, multiple days).
Really not much has change since the Beta launch, other than the integration to the Airbnb app and the layout.
The locations still seem to be pretty limited (12 cities per the release statement, the new format makes it hard to count the actual available cities). Let’s just say every city I search, brought up zero results (e.g., Hong Kong, Chiang Mai). I am sure this will expand as this feature gains recognition.
Once you have made a the app creates an itinerary map, which lays out your travel plans for you.
The new itinerary function will also offer suggestions for your trip – meet ups, dinners and will allow you to add reservations that you make outside the app (e.g., dinner).
Is this right for me?
This is a loaded question. I think this feature is great for someone that likes to DIY trips and vacations, and does not like large group tours (coach buses), and is looking for something off the beaten path.
Most of the experiences are semi-private (6-8 people) to private.
How do I become an Experience Host?
You can sign up to host an experience here.
Airbnb has really shifted from a space sharing site to a full DIY travel agency.
The “goal” of the Airbnb seems to be creating a”trip platform.” An integration of several travel apps into a single app (combining the functions of TripIt, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, soon OpenTable? into a single app Airbnb) while offering a uniqueness to travel.