Better known as an enabler of home-sharing in its early days, Airbnb is now expanding its product offerings to give travelers the “best trip.”
Speaking with CNBC’s Dan Murphy, Parin Mehta, APAC trips operations director for Airbnb said: “When you think about a trip, it’s got several constituent parts,” Mehta said.
” There’s the home that you stay in, there might be some experiences that you take … You might even want to… attend a concert or a restaurant as well,” he added.
“What we’re trying to do is actually build something slightly different … We’re trying to build really local and authentic experiences in every city,” he said, citing activities where locals can accompany guests on, such as water sport or dance classes.
In particular, Tokyo, Seoul and Bali has seen much traction, Mehta said. But these are also places which are “quite difficult” for foreigners to navigate, and where its community of locals can play a part in guiding them through the experiences, he added.
Mehta also said there was an opportunity to tap on the trend of Chinese millennials going overseas, as well as the increasing occurrence of domestic travel within the country.
“We know that people from, perhaps, tier two cities might be interested in going to Shanghai to discover some hidden gems that locals might be able to show them,” he added.
