Airbnb is (again) entering the multiday tours arena with the launch of Airbnb Adventures, an extension of its Experiences product offering unique, off-the-grid expeditions.
The adventures, numbering more than 200 at the outset, are available either exclusively to Airbnb or provided by small local operators “not typically found on any other major booking platform,” the company says.
The move is a return to the Experiences division’s initial concept, which was to sell multiday tours when it launched in 2016; the strategy was later scaled back to include smaller tours and things to do.
The company says it currently has activities from the existing Experiences collection available in over 1,000 cities worldwide.
Airbnb Adventures - which encompass everything from observing lions in Kenya to hunting for UFOs in Arizona - include lodging, meals and activities in one package and are hosted by local experts that “meet certain quality and safety standards” as advised by the Adventure Travel Trade Association.
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Prices range from $79 for an overnight trip to as much as $5,000 for a 10-day trip, and all adventures are for groups of 12 or fewer.
“Getting access to epic and transformational travel has never been easier than through Airbnb Adventures,” says Joe Zadeh, vice president of Airbnb Experiences, in a statement.
“Like Airbnb Experiences, people can escape their day-to-day and put their screens and devices away but now instead of just a few hours, they have the option to be fully immersed off-the-beaten-path, to push themselves out of their comfort zones and have experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”
At the Arival event in September 2018, Riccardo Ulivi, head of North American operations for Airbnb Experiences, tipped that “nothing is off limits” with its tours and activities product and it wanted to create experiences “with a twist.”
The launch of Airbnb Adventures puts Airbnb squarely back in the same market as multiday tours leader TourRadar, which raised $50 million last summer.
Another brand is Evaneos, which itself raised $80 million in funding in 2018.