Usually, Airbnb releases a lot of upgrades for visitors and a few for hosts over the summer. However, this time the firm is launching a new category called “Icons,” which are experiences offered by well-known figures in music, cinema, TV, and sports, along with a few group booking improvements.
Group booking capabilities are probably the only upgrade that will be available to all users. They enable users to make shared wishlists and include trip invites with property information.
Users a link or their phone contacts, users may now invite friends and family to a wishlist. To decide on a booking, group members can vote on homes, add them to a list, or write comments about them.
After booking the property, the primary member must send out postcards inviting others to join them on vacation again. Additionally included on the invitation card are the location, check-in instructions, and Wi-Fi passwords.
Furthermore, Airbnb is launching a new communication page where all guests may interact with the host and respond to messages. To answer inquiries, hosts may employ AI-powered recommendations, including emailing the visitors the property’s check-out instructions.
According to Airbnb co-founder and chief strategy officer Nathan Blecharczyk, the business has developed group capabilities because more than 80% of visits to the site include several people. Making choices often involves a lot of back and forth among the group members.
In addition to group features, Airbnb is launching the “Icons” experience category, featuring properties such as the X-Men home, the Ferrari museum, Prince’s Purple Rain House, and living room sessions with Doja Cat, along with a new earnings dashboard for hosts featuring enhanced analytics. These experiences will be available for a limited period of time, and access will require an application. Over 11 encounters, Airbnb intends to welcome 4,000 guests.
Applications of AI on Airbnb
Speaking with Eltrys in November of last year, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said that the business is experimenting with review summaries driven by generative AI. Airbnb aims to apply AI in many areas, including customer service, according to Blecharczyk, who told Eltrys that the company hasn’t made any public pronouncements in this regard.
“We are increasingly using AI to streamline our customer support to make sure that customers are routed to the right agents or to have tickets automatically resolved with AI-generated responses,” he added.
The co-founder of Airbnb pointed out that the firm has been limited-production testing AI-powered answers, which are only relevant to certain situations.
In my opinion, applying AI to the company has a lot of promise. Without divulging details of the company’s road map, Blecharczyk added, “We think a lot about how AI is going to change the experience at the consumer layer over time.”
We sit on top of a ton of customer service data and a ton of reviews. We are thus considering how we may utilize AI to provide a more concise overview of a listing and its details.
Launched by Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer, GamePlanner was a covert firm that Airbnb purchased in November 2023. Chesky had stated earlier this year that the travel site intended to build an “ultimate concierge,” including the GamePlanner purchase. Probably the first step toward that is answering consumer questions with AI-powered responses.
