Building a Tours and Activities Business on the Back of Airbnb
Photo Credit: Maxine Daniels (center), founder of I Bike Harlem, with two Airbnb guests on a bike tour in Harlem, New York City. I Bike Harlem
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It's not just hosts who are riding Airbnb's coattails and creating businesses. Small tour operators are working with hosts to draw attention to their activities and Airbnb is quick to help them do that to give it a neighborhood-friendly image.
Airbnb guests in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, like anywhere, receive a variety of welcomes and amenities during their stay, though one increasingly common denominator these uptown guests find in their rooms is a gift bag from a local bike tour company.
Beyond travel startups that arrange cleaning services or offer pricing analytics for Airbnb hosts, tours and activities startups that work with guests have also grown out of the home-share company's model.
These include I Bike Harlem, which offers bike tours of Harlem that expose travelers to the history and food of the neighborhood. Less than a year old, it's already developed numerous relationships in the local Airbnb community, and it helps that founder Maxine Daniels is a host herself.
Daniels didn't found I Bike Harlem specifically because of Airbnb but the growing number of hosts and guests in the neighborhood boosted its visibility during its first summer season. Harlem is one of Ne
