Airbnb is well-known as a listing site where travelers can choose from a variety of vacation homes. But did you know that it also offers new experiences?
Airbnb Experiences are activities and tours that users can book in the local area. They can be anything from food tastings and pottery workshops to guided hikes through nature. Although they’re a separate function from listings, hosts are free to join in.
Looking for new ways to boost revenue and improve your guests’ stay? In this article, learn more about Airbnb Experiences, why hosts should offer them, and how to integrate them into an existing rental business.
Experienced Airbnb hosts and cofounders of Driscoll Cuisine & Cocktail Concepts, Brian Driscoll and Monique Hayward, are also here to share their insights. They launched Shake & Stir: Craft Cocktail Class by Brian as part of Airbnb’s relaunched Services & Experiences platform earlier this year.
What are Airbnb Experiences?
Airbnb Experiences are in-person activities for small groups hosted by locals. They give travelers a way to learn something new, explore an area, or connect with an aspect of the culture through hands-on participation.
Users can book Airbnb Experiences directly through the platform. This feature has its own search system that connects to different locations, making it simple for people to see activities matching their interests and schedule. As with listings, Airbnb collects the money and transfers it to you after confirmation.
Airbnb Experiences encompasses a wide range of tours and activities. Some popular categories include:
- Food and drink tasting
- Wellness activities
- Workshops
- Nature trips
- Museum and gallery tours
For example, Driscoll and Hayward offer cocktail and mixology classes to Airbnb users in the Phoenix, Arizona area.
Who can host Airbnb Experiences?
Hosting an Airbnb Experience isn’t a simple matter of creating a listing. Airbnb expects you to meet strict criteria before it approves you to start accepting bookings.
Here are the general requirements:
- Over 18s only
- Identity verification and background checks
- Any relevant licenses, insurance, or certifications
- Two years of experience in the field (five for chefs without a culinary degree)
- Evidence of a strong professional reputation
- A portfolio of past work for services like chefs, trainers, and make-up artists
- Three versions of the activity (entry, standard, premium)
- A connection to the local culture or city
To give you an idea of the standards, both Driscoll and Hayward had extensive experience in bartending and cuisine before they launched their Airbnb Experience.
Why host an Airbnb Experience? Benefits for hosts
Airbnb Experiences has many advantages, whether you want to drive more guests to your short-term rental business or simply want to share your skills and interests with travelers:
- More visibility on Airbnb: The platform sometimes features well-related Experiences its curated collections and search modules. This added exposure can bring more eyes to both your activity and your rental listing.
- Additional revenue: Experiences give you another income stream without expanding your portfolio. You can host activities on or off-site and attract both your own guests and travelers staying elsewhere.
- Extra appeal in competitive markets: If your area is crowded with similar listings, an Airbnb Experience can help you stand out. Travelers often choose stays that offer something memorable beyond the property itself.
- Better guest relationships, repeat stays, and referrals: Leading an activity helps you connect with guests, leaving them with a stronger sense of trust and familiarity. This leads to better reviews and more repeat bookings.
- A more professional look: Experiences show that you’re serious about hospitality, not just a property owner looking to make passive income. Travelers will feel more confident that you’re going to offer a top-notch stay.
Hayward and Driscoll say they particularly appreciate the flexibility that Airbnb Experiences gives them: “We can welcome locals, travelers staying elsewhere, or guests from our own retreat.”
How Airbnb Experiences compare to traditional hosting
The main difference between Airbnb Experiences and traditional hosting is the level of guest interaction. Modern short-term rental management doesn’t require much face-to-face time because you can handle many operations via messaging and automation. On the other hand, running an Airbnb Experience involves physically meeting people and spending a significant amount of time with them.
Earnings also work differently. When you accept a booking for your Airbnb rental, you usually charge per night. You usually charge per person for any Airbnb Experiences you host.
Otherwise, there’s a lot of overlap between running Airbnb Experiences and hosting guests. Both require you to optimize your listing to attract travelers and get bookings. They also both demand a lot of preparation and planning to ensure you can offer a great experience and get positive ratings and reviews.
How to become and succeed as an Airbnb Experience host
Here’s what to bear in mind and start preparing before you launch your Airbnb Experience:
Consider how to meet Airbnb platform requirements
Before you commit to an idea, make sure you can meet Airbnb’s requirements for hosting an Experience. You must have the relevant training or qualifications to get approved.
Start by considering what expertise you have outside of short-term rental management. For example, Driscoll and Hayward already had extensive experience in cuisine and bartending, so the choice was obvious. “We’ve been providing personal chef services since 2019, and cocktail experiences quickly became a favorite,” they said.
If there’s a gap in your expertise, partner with someone else who can provide the missing piece. Look for people in your local area who can confidently run Airbnb Experiences while you continue to handle property management.
Develop a concept for your activity
Find a unique twist on your activity that will grab users’ attention. Remember that it has to stand out from dozens of other Airbnb Experiences in the local area, plus hundreds more off the platform. Hosts can’t offer generic city tours and expect to get many bookings.
At the same time, make sure your Airbnb Experience is related to your area. Try to connect your concept to something the city is known for, whether that’s a traditional meal or a local legend about a ghost.
Driscoll and Hayward make a perfect case study. One of their activities is “Drink Like It’s the 1920s: For lovers of Prohibition-era speakeasies, guests learn to make timeless classics with a historical twist.” They’re still offering cocktail classes, but with an unusual twist that appeals to all kinds of travelers.
Check for local demand
Once you have a concept, check whether travelers are interested in that type of activity in your area. You can browse similar Experiences nearby to see what gets bookings, what guests review positively, and where there might be a gap. This gives you a good sense of whether your idea matches what visitors come to your city to do.
Also, look outside the Airbnb website. Research the most popular activities for your area on sites like Tripadvisor to gauge what’s going to perform well.
Don’t forget about demand once you’ve listed your activity and started taking bookings. Hayward and Driscoll say they continuously review their offerings to offer the best possible experience for travelers. They said: “Over the years, we’ve refined our Shake & Stir class based on real-world feedback from private dinner clients, event guests, and corporate groups.”
Create a standout Airbnb Experience listing
Chances are, you already know the basics of effective Airbnb listing management if you rent properties through the platform. Airbnb Experiences pretty much follow the same rules.
Arranging photos may be challenging when you haven’t taken any bookings yet. Try hosting a free session for friends and family and taking a few professional, high-quality shots then. You can always update these with more authentic images of real guests enjoying their activity once you’ve been operating for a while.
But avoid using stock photography or AI-generated imagery. Some travelers are likely to be able to tell, and it’ll make your Airbnb Experience seem less genuine.
Provide guests with details about your activity
Clear information makes users feel more confident about what they’re booking and sets their expectations. They’re also more likely to be prepared on the day, so they make the most of the experience.
Be sure to include all the following details in your listing description:
- What the activity involves
- Any risks (where relevant)
- Meeting points
- Dates and times of sessions
- Estimated length of activities
- Service fees
- Clothes and equipment needed
- Weather considerations
Also, consider leaving details for guests about your Airbnb Experience in your digital guidebook. You can both advertise your activity and provide more information to people who have already signed up. Platforms like Hostfully let you add text, images, and video to digital guidebooks to show guests exactly what the activity will be like.
Get positive ratings and reviews
Positive reviews build trust with users and help you climb the Airbnb algorithm. The trick is getting the first few people to leave feedback after you start accepting bookings.
Of course, guests are more likely to give you positive Airbnb reviews when they have a good experience. Always aim to meet high standards to keep them happy. And if you have co-hosts or local partnerships, regularly check in with them to ensure they can deliver a quality experience.
Another problem is that guests simply forget to rate you. Nudge them by sending them a quick message a few days after the activity or stay when they’ve had a chance to recover from their travels. Property Management Software (PMS) like Hostfully enables you to create templates and schedule them for specific points, so you don’t have to spend extra time on guest communications.
Integrate Airbnb Experiences with your rental business
Consider how you can use activities to complement your short-term rental business. If you can create a unified experience, travelers will be more likely to book both of them.
Creating a single theme can help you sell rentals and activities as a single package. For example, Driscoll and Hayward combine hospitality with fine dining. “When we launched our retreat in Phoenix’s Moon Valley, it was important to us to offer immersive, curated experiences alongside the overnight stay,” they said.
What might that involve for other types of businesses? Well, a host offering food tours or cooking classes might leave all the ingredients for meals at the property. And someone who gives nature hikes could hang posters with guides to all the different types of local flora and fauna on the walls.
As Airbnb Experiences can vary so widely, it’s mostly about ensuring you connect your rental business to your activity in an authentic way.
Grow your rental business with Airbnb Experiences (and a little support from Hostfully PMS)
Airbnb Experiences open the door to extra revenue, deeper guest engagement, and more engaging, unique experiences. They’re certainly something to consider as you look for ways to expand your short-term rental company.
Integrating this Airbnb service into your business model becomes much easier when your operations run smoothly behind the scenes.
Hostfully can support your processes with:
- Digital guidebooks to give guests details about activities and rentals
- Automated messaging for schedules, reminders, and what-to-bring notes
- Unified inbox to stay on top of guest questions from one place
- Task management to prevent clashes between stay operations and experience times
- Integrations with smart devices for smoother on-site preparation
This strong foundation gives you the time and headspace you need to focus on creating a great experience for travelers both at your properties and around town.
FAQs about Airbnb Experiences
What are Airbnb Experiences?
Airbnb Experiences are indoor and outdoor activities hosted by locals, ranging from wine tasting and cooking classes to art workshops and walking tours. They give guests a way to connect with a destination in a more hands-on, personal way than they would through a standard stay.
Can anyone host an Airbnb Experience?
Anyone can apply to host an Airbnb Experience, whether you have a property or not. However, you must be over 18 and have the right credentials to manage the activity safely and to the platform’s standards.
How much can hosts earn from Airbnb Experiences?
Hosts are free to set their own prices for Airbnb Experiences. The payout depends on a range of factors such as the location, demand, and type of activities you offer. Group size is an important consideration as you charge per person, not per session.
Which types of Airbnb Experiences are most popular?
Popular activities include food and drink tasting, nature hikes, and hands-on workshops. But guests tend to have the best experience when the activity is related to the local culture or the destination in some way.
