Airbnb Experiences Is Still a Conundrum With Strategy Lapses
Skift Take
Sell Disneyland tickets or retain its curated Experiences offerings? Things are already beginning to change, but that's a dilemma for Airbnb as it tries to build a profitable tours and activities business in a rough-and-tumble and highly competitive market.
Nearly five years after launching Airbnb Experiences, which the company bills as "Activities Designed by Locals," the business is beset with challenges with no obvious or publicly articulated path forward.
Part of the issue was the pandemic, which decimated tours and activities' providers around the world. CEO Brian Chesky has stated publicly that prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, he envisioned that 2020 was going to be a breakout year for Airbnb Experiences. That didn't happen, of course, for obvious reasons.
It's unclear how much attention Airbnb's Experiences' staff is giving to offline tours at the moment. Airbnb's focus in the tours and activities arena during the Covid crisis has mostly been on online or virtual experiences, ranging from a sign language-inspired workshop to streaming the best of Paris with a Parisian, and the secrets of interior design.
Attention-grabbing promotional events, such as several K-Pop experiences, running this week. have been part of the mix, too.
But Airbnb Experiences has nonetheless been undergoing some important, if still burgeoning, changes.
No tickets to must-see attractions
The company has stuck with its refusal to offer tickets to popular attractions in favor of curated experiences offered by hosts, and increasingly by professional tour companies. So if you are looking for theme park tickets in Orlando, Florida, or admission tickets for the Eiffel Tower in Paris, you won't find them
