The travel booking sites that see a future in neighborhood content


Skift Take

"Neighborhood" is the buzzword for online travel sites this week, but it’s too soon to tell whether it’s a stroke of genius for catering to mobile travelers looking for localized content or very expensive dead end.
Everyone has a favorite neighborhood tucked away in the corner a major metropolitan area. It might be the art district or alleys of quiet cafes, but usually what makes them special is a sense of exclusivity. Now a few of online travel sites are about to blow their cover. In the past week, Hipmunk and Airbnb both launched features that attempt to give travelers from around the world an inside look at a city’s secret and not-so-secret nooks and crannies, before ever boarding a plane. Airbnb launched Neighborhoods last Tuesday, which allows potential bookers to filter through neighborhoods based on shopping, dining, nightlife, and transporta