Airbnb may become a headache for more than just traditional hoteliers and travel booking sites.
That comes as the company has started thinking about day-to-day use of its app. Most recently, the startup has been expanding its “Experiences” offering, in which city locals lead Airbnb users through activities in a bid to create an authentic taste of the region. Those includes a shoe-shopping trip with Sex in the City star Sarah Jessica Parker, or a cooking class in New York City. Moreover, the company also partnered with Resy, allowing users to book restaurant reservations in the U.S.
And Airbnb co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Nathan Blecharczyk says he could envision the company becoming more than just a site used in travel.
Airbnb “connect them to whats happening in the city and who are good people to know,” said Blecharczyk during the Skift Global Forum in New York Wednesday.
“As more and more different types of offerings — restaurants, experiences, and more to come — gets built out, I think it could become something more of a regular use, even daily app, used by local people long term,” he said. Meanwhile, Facebook is used on average over 50 minutes per user daily.
That comes as the $30 billion-plus company recently launched Experiences in New York City, its 40th such market.
That also highlights how Airbnb hopes to continue differentiate itself. According to Blecharczyk, as travelers continue to seek novel experiences,Airbnb is also trying to is to help users and travelers gain access to experiences that may otherwise be difficult to find.
The next step, he said, is to figure out “how do we unlock access to some of that stuff that is otherwise harder to get access to?” He told Coins2Day.
