Airbnb Announces New Upcoming Services and Luxury Experiences

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky announced new services and experiences for the platform during Airbnb’s earnings conference call for the second quarter of 2024 this week.

Airbnb will launch a new co-hosting feature in October and will relaunch previous experiences and expand to new services in 2025

“I want Airbnb to be one of the most important companies in our generation,” said Chesky in the call. “This fall, this October, we’re going to be launching a new host service, which is really important. It’s essentially a co-hosting marketplace.”

The new co-hosting experience will allow property owners—who don’t have much free time— to connect with people who have more time for hosting and management but not a property. Airbnb will ideate a way to match these users to increase short-term rentals.

“Then, next year, we’re going to begin to expand Airbnb truly beyond a core business,” shared Chesky in the call. “We’re going to relaunch experiences.”

Chesky explained that the company has learned great lessons from previous experiences and services, and that will reinvent current features like new guest and host services.

According to TechCrunch, just a few days ago, Airbnb told Bloomberg that the company has been considering luxury experiences like massages and personal chefs as part of the customer’s in-home experiences and a strategy to gain leverage against hotels.

During the call, Chesky also emphasized on the company’s need to expand its services and offers, just like other companies like Amazon—who initially sold just books—or Apple—selling only iMacs in an early stage—did. “We’ve gotten bigger than either of those companies just selling short-term rentals. But we’re ready to go beyond short-term rentals.”

Chesky also highlighted the company’s achievements and expansions like a “41% free cash flow margin”—and mentioned that Airbnb is one of the most profitable companies in tech— and has a presence in 220 countries and regions. However, the company also acknowledged a 15% profit fall during this quarter.