An unruly passenger has been ordered to pay 17,630 Australian dollars ($11,780), including fuel costs, after causing a flight to be canceled.
11.09.2024 - 19:14 / skift.com / Brian Chesky / Dennis Schaal
After pausing the acceptance of host signups for new experiences for around a year-and-a half, Airbnb has deleted subpar experience listings, and re-opened the application process.
“We’re delighted to be once again reopening submissions for new experiences,” a spokesperson told Skift Wednesday. “Our aim is to provide guests with a diverse, unique selection of experiences that authentically reflect the culture and community of cities around the world. As Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky mentioned in our latest earnings call, we’re excited about the future of Experiences and look forward to sharing more soon.”
Airbnb confirmed the experiences reboot after a LinkedIn user saw a prompt to host an experience.
Experiences has been a CEO Brian Chesky passion project for years. The company halted them during the pandemic, restarted them later, and then paused accepting new host applications for experiences around April 2023. The company admitted that they just hadn’t nailed the product.
“They need to be more affordable,” Chesky said during an earnings call in August. “They need to be more unique to Airbnb. We need things you can only find in Airbnb. They should be merchandised videos, not photos. They discoverable on the app, and we should market them. If we think we do these five things, we think we’ll have a hit on our hands, and we’re working on that.”
In June, Airbnb deleted some 5,000 experiences that didn’t meet its standards.
To date, at least, Airbnb hasn’t changed requirements to list an experience.
“Airbnb Experiences are designed to be highly unique and interactive, according to the Airbnb Help Center. “So, services are generally ineligible as they don’t provide expertise, insider access, and connection.”
In that regard, Airbnb seems to be sticking to its plan of not going particularly mainstream with its tours, activities and attractions. So in Rome, you’ll find a Handmade pasta with grandma experience rather than the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel with Basilica tour that you can book on GetYourGuide.
Airbnb views experiences as a key component of its value proposition, although they have been a revenue non-factor. The company believes that local hosts can be especially adept at using their hometown knowledge to provide compelling experiences, which make the stay more personal and memorable for guests.
It is well-documented that travelers are making it a high priority to participate in special activities during there trips, although many travel companies have not been able to make a lucrative business out of the sector. Most of the tours and experiences sector — including everything from dive shops to parasailing and tennis lessons — are still offline, but countless tours and activities
An unruly passenger has been ordered to pay 17,630 Australian dollars ($11,780), including fuel costs, after causing a flight to be canceled.
GMR Airports Infrastructure Limited has entered into an agreement with Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide to acquire Fraport’s 10% stake in the Delhi International Airport. With this, GMR will hold a 74% equity stake in the airport, while the remaining 26% stake will continue to be with Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Sep 11, 2024 • 8 min read
Visitors are drawn by the diversity of [attractions] that we are offering.” – Michelle Fridman, state of Yucatan tourism ministry. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Yucatan State Tourism Ministry)
During the pandemic, Airbnb saw a burst of long-term stays of 28 days or longer, and also reservations in non-urban areas. While many other areas of the business have normalized in the interim, those two areas are still solid.
Southwest Airlines on Tuesday announced an overhaul of its board of directors, including the planned departure of its executive chairman, Gary Kelly, after a meeting with a hedge fund that has called for sweeping changes at the company.
A growing number of travelers have shown a preference for spending more money on experiences than possessions, and the travel industry has paid close attention to that shift. Skift Research’s Venture Investment Trends in Travel 2024 report revealed the experiences sector was one of the few in travel to see an increase in venture capital investment.
Southwest Airlines chairman Gary Kelly plans to retire from the company’s board at the end of his term in 2025 after the annual shareholder meeting, the carrier said in a statement Tuesday morning. Six other directors will leave the board in November.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, September 10, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Luxury travel is no longer confined to high-end shopping sprees, spa days, lavish dining, and multiple opportunities to splurge.
The latest data from Viator, an online travel agency for travel experiences, offers a window into evolving travel habits.
It all began, as most things do these days, with a viral video on TikTok.