Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, for more than a decade, has championed experiences as a natural fit for its homes. He’s argued that unique experiences, like a game day spent with former Major League Baseball star Adrián González, which was an Airbnb Original, or an Iceland volcano tour with a geologist would help scale the business to compete with Tripadvisor/Viator and GetYourGuide. In other words, these niche experiences would suffice to make Airbnb a major player in tours and activities.
However, like Booking.com several years ago, Chesky has now pivoted away from that exclusively build-your-own vision. Tripadvisor announced Tuesday that it has a distribution partnership with Airbnb. The home-sharing company declined to comment on the move.
The volcano tour might be awesome, but tourists also want to see the Empire State Building and the Louvre.
Airbnb had to go more mainstream with experiences. When the Tripadvisor partnership kicks in later this year, that’s what Airbnb is going to do. It may have been a tough move for Chesky to make, but it was a necessary one. Kudos to Airbnb for seeing the reality.
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On September 22–24 in New York City, the CEOs of Uber, Hilton, Booking Holdings, and Expedia take the main stage to pressure-test what changed and decide what travel does next.
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