Airbnb’s summer launch is usually a big deal with lots of updates for guests and few for hosts. This time, however, the company is only introducing a few updates to group bookings along with a new category called “Icons,” which are experiences hosted by famous names in music, film, television, and sports.
The group booking features, which are probably the only update that will reach all users, allow users to create shared wish lists and there are group travel invitations with property details.
Users can now invite friends or family to a wish list via contacts on their phone or via a link. Group members can add properties to a list, leave notes on a property, or vote on them to decide on the reservation.
Image Credits: Airbnb
After the primary member reserves the property, they must invite people to travel with them again on the trip with a postcard. The invitation card also has details such as address, check-in instructions and Wi-Fi passwords.
Airbnb is also introducing a new message tab where all travelers can chat with the host and react to messages. Hosts can use AI suggestions to answer questions, such as sending guests the property’s buying guide.
Image Credits: Airbnb
Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, said the company built group features because more than 80 percent of trips on the platform involve more than one person. Additionally, there is a lot of back-and-forth between team members when it comes to decision-making.
In addition to group features, Airbnb is rolling out a new earnings dashboard for hosts with better insights and an experience category called “Icons,” which includes properties like the X-Men mansion, the Ferrari museum, Prince’s Purple Rain House and salon sessions with Doja Cat. These experiences will be available for a short time and users will need to apply to get in. Airbnb plans to host 4,000 people in 11 experiences.
Use of artificial intelligence on Airbnb
Last November, in a chat with TechCrunch, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky mentioned that the company is testing artificial intelligence-based generative review summaries. While Airbnb hasn’t made any public announcements in this area, Blecharczyk told TechCrunch that the platform plans to use AI in many areas, including customer support.
“We are increasingly using AI to improve our customer support to ensure customers are routed to the right agents or tickets are automatically resolved with AI-generated responses,” he said.
The Airbnb co-founder noted that AI responses only apply to certain scenarios and the company is testing them in limited production.
“I think there is a lot of potential for the application of artificial intelligence in business. We’re thinking a lot about how AI will change the experience at the consumer level over time,” Blecharczyk said without sharing details about the company’s roadmap.
“We have a lot of reviews and track a lot of customer service data. So we’re thinking about how we can use AI to give a better picture of a listing and its information at a glance.”
In November 2023, Airbnb acquired a stealth startup called GamePlanner, which was started by Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer. Earlier this year, Chesky said the acquisition of GamePlanner was part of the travel platform’s plan to create an “ultimate concierge.” Using AI answers to solve customer queries is probably the first step towards this.
