Airbnb relaunches its "Experiences" category heavily

[Garrett Brown]

Airbnb went heavily into on-platform Experiences in 2016 and realized quickly it had more challenges than expected. After taking down thousands of listings over the last few years, they have decided to relaunch Experiences again. Brian Chesky (Co-Founder and CEO of Airbnb) said they have realized 5 major things to dominate this market. 

1. Affordability 

2. More unique to Airbnb

3. More videos

4. Discoverability within App

5. Marketing

I go back and forth on whether I think Airbnb can make this a mainstay in their business model. I want them to focus on hosts and the guest experience for the actual stay but they sometimes have shiny object syndrome. What are your thoughts on them trying again in this field and does this help hosts at all? 

[Jon Martin]

Quote from @John Underwood:

This seems like a marketing ploy that might appeal to a small group of travelers. 

Similar to the "Categories" that everyone lost their mind about 1-2 years ago. Very few people go to the main page without a destination and dates in mind.