The Case for Why Airbnb’s Foray Into Experiences Is a Fundamental Mistake
Photo Credit: Our author Carl Shepherd, HomeAway co-founder, thinks Airbnb Experiences (pictured here) is a wholesale misapplication of things that worked in Airbnb's homes business. Airbnb
Skift Take
It is highly risky for Airbnb to pivot to compete directly as an online travel agency, and it needs to seriously think about whether its sharing model truly extends to the activity, experience provider because in reality it doesn't.
For our Viewpoint series, Skift invites thought leaders, some from the less obvious corners of travel, to join in the conversation. We know that these independent voices are important to the dialogue within the industry. Our guest columnists will identify and shape what global trends and through lines will define the future of travel.
When you talk about experiences, you’re talking about bloodletting on all fronts. I don’t know of an online travel agency that is finding true success selling experiences.
Airbnb’s first attempt was to try to provide unique inventory, which is in its DNA. In my opinion, that strategy is madness. It misses the fundamental realities of the unit economics of the average experience provider.
I’m not talking about the Disney’s or the Big Buses of the world, but the actual human beings who take visitors to hang-glide, boat, hunt, ski the backcountry, and trek, for example. In other words, I’m referring to the 80 percent of providers who take, as a group, only about 15 percent of the total spending on activities.
[caption id="attachment_388999" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Carl Shepherd[/caption]
My opinion about why experiences has failed on Airbnb — and by most accounts it has, although only Airbnb knows the degree of failure — is rooted in the fact that Air
