Airbnb Launches Trips, Its Big Tours and Activities Gamble

Airbnb is making good on its global campaign promise to help guests "live there" with its newest product launch. Today, the San Francisco-based company debuted Trips, the company's official, formal foray into tours and activities, as well as Places, which allows users to find highly curated, hand-picked recommendations for meetups, restaurants, and events in a destination. The company also hinted at the debut of Airbnb Flights, and noted that guests can eventually book car rentals, restaurant reservations, and grocery delivery services through the updated Airbnb app. All of these new products point to Airbnb's ambitions of becoming a bonafide "super brand of travel" by combining all of these services into a single travel platform. It's clear that with today's announcement, Airbnb doesn't just want to be an accommodations provider or even an online travel agency. It wants to be all of the above, as well as your go-to for recommendations, finding new friends, making restaurant re