Most of you may have probably of Airbnb, an app that lets you stay in a private person's home instead of a hotel during traveling, for a more adventurous experience. Initially, Airbnb is a rental company, but after the Airbnb Open conference in L.A's Orpheum theater last November 17, they revealed that they have become so much more.
Now, Airbnb offers Airbnb Trips, a new service feature in the Airbnb app that functions like a travel agency. With Trips, you can now book tours, experiences, and immersions within the 12 cities Airbnb initially operated, and be guided by Airbnb hosts as well.
But unlike a travel agency, where tours are mostly about known places and famous attraction, Trips lets you experience a particular place in a local's eyes, which means that you can do fun activities and go to secret places tourists aren't familiar of. With several options of Experiences and Immersions to choose from, you will not be short of adventures.
Over 500 experiences are now available in the Airbnb app. Although currently they are only available in 12 cities worldwide (Detroit, London, Paris, Nairobi, Havana, SF, Cape Town, Florence, Miami, Seoul, Tokyo, and Los Angeles), Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, announced in the conference that they are planning to expand in more cities by 2017.
According to Conde Naste Traveler, Trips have two options. "Immersions" are activities that can last up to several days, and activities or tours that only last for a few hours are called "Experiences". You don't have to spend thousands of bucks to have a taste of these tours. Although Airbnb hosts are the ones who set their own price, most tours are accessible under $200.
In Airbnb Trips, they encourage travelers to live like a local. That is in part of Airbnb's motto, "Don't go there, live there". They want their travelers to see the places they're traveling underneath the usual tourist stigma. They want their travelers to really open up in a certain place, allowing them to have a one-of-a-kind travel experience.
"Everything we do will be powered by people. A lot of technology companies talk about the magic being in the technology, but the magic is, always was, and always will be in the people." Brian Chesky said.
"These aren't tours. You actually participate and are immersed."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
