Airbnb to expand virtual offerings
Olympics, Broadway, Pride Week are coming
Ever wanted to get a private lesson from an Olympian? Or experience intimate Broadway magic from the comfort of your own home?
Airbnb launched Online Experiences in April as the coronavirus pandemic kept travelers at home, offering more than 400 options. It’s become the company’s fastest-growing product, and Airbnb – partnered with the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, Broadway and others – announced more experiences to further help people cope.
The virtual experiences are done over Zoom but not in a passive sense. Guests talk with hosts, sharing creative projects, engaging in meditation and taking cooking classes. The programs are always live and limited to intimate groups.
“For guests, I think this has been a very, very important way for people to feel like they can connect to one another,” Brian Chesky, Airbnb CEO, told USA TODAY in an interview. “You can learn an activity, you can also meet guests all over the world.”
Here’s a preview of the new experiences:
Olympics: Fans around the world will get to interact with sports idols in July. Airbnb is an Olympics sponsor, but the Tokyo Olympics were postponed to 2021. Olympians participating virtually include Alistair Brownlee, whom you can cycle with, and Lauren Gibbs, who will talk bobsledding (and give you a look at her gear).
Broadway: Members of the Broadway community, on behalf of their closed shows, will provide an intimate look at their productions via an online experience. In certain cases, the proceeds will go to charity.
Pride: A virtual Pride week is coming to Airbnb from LGBTQ+ hosts. The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA), the IGLTA Foundation and its members will offer experiences year-round.
Airbnb announced its in-person experiences reopened this week in certain countries under guidance from health experts and local governments. Hosts in some countries can resume in-person options.
The company previously offered about 50,000 in-person Airbnb Experiences, an offshoot of its housing platform, but had to pause them during the pandemic. The original program launched in 2016.
Hosts suggested the company move the experiences online, though Chesky didn’t know what to expect.
“The results surprised us,” Chesky said. “They were as well-liked as inperson experiences.” The Online Experiences have an average of 4.94 stars out of five, compared with about 4.8 for its homes business. More than 90% of all in-person experiences have 5-star reviews.
The Online Experiences program has generated more than $1 million in bookings since its launch. One host from Portugal made more than $100,000 in a month with his Sangria and Secrets with Drag Queens experience. A scan of the Online Experiences home page shows hosts charging anywhere from less than $10 to more than $50 per person for one to two hours.
Elsewhere, Airbnb is launching an initiative in partnership with online racial justice group Color of Change to root out discrimination on its platform in the USA by monitoring and measuring when it occurs.
Airbnb has other challenges, such as the effect it has on neighborhoods of color and the homogeneous makeup of its workforce and leadership. Just 3.5% of its employees and 6% of its leaders are Black.