Airbnb reopens to new Experience listings

A company spokesperson confirmed the reopening in a statement saying in part:

“Our aim is to provide guests with a diverse, unique selection of experiences that authentically reflect the culture and community of cities around the world.”

Experiences were first added to the Airbnb platform in 2022, and hyped as an area of "major investment" for the company, but new listings were then paused in 2023. Next, in April this year, Airbnb introduced its "Icons" hybrid tour/lodging product, followed in May by the announcement of its intent to remove thousands of experience listings for not meeting Airbnb standards. And in August, CEO Brian Chesky announced that Experiences would be returning in 2025 as a cross-sell product with lodging.

There's wide speculation about why Experiences may have been brought back ahead of schedule, but Airbnb isn't talking.

Problems identified by Airbnb with the initial Experiences initiative have included high costs, lack of exclusivity and difficulty in scaling, but hosts have complained about poor support on the part of Airbnb.

Why is a product with so much potential having so much difficulty getting traction? Stay tuned for updates.