Booking.com expands Experiences service, now in 60 cities worldwide

Booking.com's effort to muscle in on tours and activities has taken another sizeable step with the launch of Booking Experiences in the U.S..

The Booking Holdings-owned brand has slowly rolled out the functionality over the course of the last few years, beginning in its home town of Amsterdam and reaching other destinations such as London, Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.

For the time being, rather than being a consumer platform in its own rights, Booking Experiences works by engaging with consumers only once they have booked a hotel.

Guests are sent a link post-booking that directs them to a "pesonalized landing page" with a list of participating tours, activities and attractions in the city.

A QR code is issued and the customer can then use it to obtain discounted rates to a city's various things to do.

Booking.com has now launched the service in a number of high-profile cities in the country, including New York, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Unique thing to do

Interestingly, many providers of tours and activities have focused on traditional tourist products (museums, landmarks, etc) or offer one-to-one tours, active-based or culinary experiences.

But Booking.com has secured a well-known music artist to help support its push of Experiences in the U.S.

Grammy-nominated DJ Khaled, who is embarking on what is apparently an already sold-out tour of the country, will have tickets and meet-and-greet sessions made available through the QR code in cities where he is performing.

The launch of Experiences in the U.S. comes five months after Booking Holdings bought software provider FareHarbor - the company's first acquisition in the sector.

An official for Booking Holdings says: "FareHarbor has certainly helped contribute to this, in addition to our teams on the ground working to build the product and expand the inventory we can make available to consumers."

Booking Experiences is now currently available in 60 cities worldwide.

Ram Papatla, vice president for Experiences at Booking.com, says: "We're constantly exploring new ways to leverage technology in order to facilitate seamless and enjoyable travel experiences for our customers at every stage of their journey and with Booking Experiences, we're doing just that."