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

As part of a broad application update, AirBNB introduced a new feature on Tuesday that allows travelers to book services and experiences, such as a message, haircut, or chef-preserved food or participated in any activity. These new offers can be added to your stay but they can be booked independently, called AirBNB.

For example, you can book a tour in a city you have traveled, but where you chose to stay somewhere, the company suggests.

This is not the first time that AirBNB has tried this national feature – It has given a break in the previous version of the experience in 2023 To make the original improvement Stay offThe Now, the company wants to get out of customers’ travel plans again.

This step is to capitalize on the AirBNB site already received. During the AirBNB Q1 2025 call, CEO Brian Chesky said that its service was accessed by 1.5 billion devices last year, but many people did not book any home on the site.

It brings more direct AirBNB to the competition with other travel companies such as TripAdvizer, Booking.com, Viagyer and Gueurgide and Service Providers YieldThe

Initially, AirBNB allows you to book services across 10 categories including chef, catering, prepared food, photography, massage, spa treatment, personal training, hair, nails and makeup. Services will be offered in 100 cities worldwide across eight countries.

Users can take advantage of services wherever they are, but they usually need to travel to a venue for experience.

Initially, experiences will include cultural and museum tours; Outdoor, waterport and wildlife experience; Food tours and cooking classes; Art workshop and shopping experience; And experience of workout, well -being and beauty. The company is launching experiences in 19 categories across one thousand cities around the world.

AirBNB is also launching exclusive experience on its platform called AirBNB Original, which is involved in celebrity partnership. These include things like making pastry in the French bakery with the chef Rafael Elbaz or playing beach volleyball with the Olympian Carol Salberg at Rio Leblan Beach.

“These experiences and services are a way to feel a city like local we think they are the natural extension of the house [stays]The What is great about AirBNB is that you get unique to stay that you can’t find anywhere else. We think of our new offers the same way, “VP Judson Coplan, AirBNB’s product marketing, told TechCrunch with a call.

Coplan believes that AirBNB experiences can inspire people to travel and take a trip that they probably didn’t. Also, he thinks new offers can people discover new things in their own city.

AirBNB will cut 15% from services and 20% from experience. However, users will only see a price while looking for both categories or booking. The agency says that these categories will go through verification and quality checks so that their experiences, online presence, education and necessary licenses are included.

AirBNB’s new app has added a social sport

Addition of services and experiences is part of a greater app update where both the guests and the host will be rebuilt in new categories, other changes.

Guests will be able to explore and book from accommodation, service and experience departments. And, if travelers have already booked an upcoming trip, the application will suggest related experience or services. On the other end, the hosts will have a calendar and list function that helps to handle their bookings and offers.

AirBNB is also preparing to roll out social features at the end of this year.

The app has a group messaging feature for the trip plan today, but it is planned to add a group chat feature for people who are experienced together. In this way, they can talk about experiences, share photos and videos or recommend for another trip.

Instead, AirBNB hopes that people can travel more and use it to make it platform.

The agency says it is developing privacy features around these social connections to create a safe experience for users.

Social features follow the introduction of an updated profile page last year, which allow users to describe more about themselves, where they live, including the languages ​​they tell and other information about themselves.

Koplan said that after this publication, the number of full profiles on the platform increased by 15x.

He explained, “There was a lot of people who wanted to share more about themselves. For us, it was a formula that had something about the travel connection,” he explained. “This is your host, the people you travel with or whom you meet with, especially at the moment of time, have a desire to contact other people.”

Customer Service Scaling including AI

Mirring the comments made by CheskyCoplan mentions how AirBNB is using AI to provide customer service and its AI assistant will become a climb that can manage travel plans and inspiration.

Early this month, Introducing Cheski AirBNB’s AI Operated Customer Service AgentThe In contrast to the previous version of the boat, which redirects the users in a support article, the assistant now provides an answer in the chat.

The bot is initially available for English -speaking users in the United States and will be fully roll out at the end of the month in this market. Later this year, the feature will be available for more countries and languages, Koplan told TechCrunch.

Over time, he says that AirBNB will add more features to its AI assistant, including in-line action buttons to take quick action like personalized answers and booking according to your trip and booking.

Updated AirBNB websites and iOS and Android applications are turning to all users around the world today.