Airbnb Plus and Everything CEO Brian Chesky Just Announced
Photo Credit: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky speaks on Thursday at an event announcing new products, including Airbnb Plus. Airbnb
Skift Take
To be honest, we weren't very surprised by Thursday's launches. In fact, we wondered why they haven't been launched sooner. But for the most part, all of them certainly seem in step with Airbnb's plans for being much more than just about any other travel brand or company out there.
As Skift reported last week and Airbnb confirmed Thursday, the company's newest product is Airbnb Plus. This program, which ran under the pilot name of Airbnb Select, identifies more than 2,000 Airbnb home listings in 13 cities worldwide as having particular amenities and meeting a lengthy checklist of standards for both quality and safety.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky announced the debut of that program, along with a number of new tools and initiatives that feed into his concept of "building a 21st century company" that is also "host-led," as well as making it easier and simpler for people to find what they are looking for on the Airbnb platform.
Among the new developments: a long-awaited loyalty program, which is set to launch this summer with perks including discounts, last-minute booking, and access to exclusive listings.
Chesky made the announcements at a press event internally dubbed "Tomorrowland" — a nod to the co-founder's penchant for all things Disney. (At one point,
