Airbnb goes all in on everything but the bnb

Since its last major redesign in 2022, Airbnb has been all about the destination. Staying in homes so unique or glamorous—from McMansions with amazing pools to surrealist homes in a shoe—that they might be worth a trip unto itself.

But starting today, Airbnb is expanding its purview beyond homes…again. It’s launching a new product called Airbnb Services, and redoubling on Airbnb Experiences (first launched in 2016).

What are Airbnb Services?

Services considers everything you might want to accompany that home you’re renting. Photography. A manicure. A massage or spa treatment. A personal trainer. A private chef or fully catered experience. It’s basically everything you could imagine around a wedding, weekend get-together with friends, or even a corporate retreat.

Meanwhile, Experiences falls under the greater umbrella of “stuff for tourists.” These outings hosted by locals include walking tours of local landmarks, cooking classes, and shopping experiences. (They can also include something Airbnb is dubbing Airbnb Originals, which are higher profile events like getting glammed up with Sabrina Carpenter for a day.)

Redesigning an app to do more stuff

To offer these new features, Services and Experiences will both get their own tab right on top of the app, alongside Homes. For anyone who has booked a home on Airbnb, the biggest update will be a complete trip timeline that includes both their rental and anything else they’ve signed up to do. (Airbnb also intends to sell you on services and experiences after you’ve booked a place to stay.)

Summarized, these updates might seem pretty small—and in line with Airbnb’s own experimentation for the past decade. The company has hit a mature era of its business, growing 6% year-over-year. Rental prices have been flat for Airbnb recently, but a bright spot pushing those earnings has been Experiences. 

By pushing Experiences to a more front-and-center position in the app, and accompanying them with Services, Airbnb is pushing the pedal down on all the stuff they can make money on that’s not housing. And in doing so, it becomes as much an event planner as a vacation tool, arguably capable of 10x’ing what it can charge. 

Consider that the average vacation costs Americans about $2,800, but the average wedding costs Americans $33,000. Before this update, it would have been inconceivable to book a wedding (complete with hair, food, and entertainment) on Airbnb. After this update, it seems downright simple.

Time will tell how deeply Airbnb can seep into our major events and, in turn, the deepest crevasses of our wallets. But with a few tweaks to its existing formula, Airbnb is banking on being a lot more than another vacation app.

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