Airbnb Plans to Push “Experiences” in New York City

Airbnb’s short-term rental business in New York City is suffering, but the company is readying other plans to stay afloat in the Big Apple.

Chief executive officer Brian Chesky pointed to Airbnb’s experiences as a way forward beyond its traditional lodging offerings, Bloomberg reported. Chesky noted “a lot of opportunity” in the city for hosts offer bar crawls, guided tours and photo shoots instead of places to stay.

Airbnb leadership has previously talked up demand for its experiences feature as New York City zeroed in on short-term rental regulation. Local Law 18 has decimated the presence of legal Airbnbs, which Chesky brushed off, saying the company’s reliance on the market has waned.

“In 2009, 2010, New York was like 70 percent, 80 percent of our business,” Chesky said in his interview with the outlet. “Now no city comprises more than one-half percent of our business.”

That would still account for roughly $42 million, based on the company’s earnings last year.

Since the city’s Office of Special Enforcement launched its registration portal in March, it approved only 405 short-term rentals as of late September. Many applications are still pending due to staff shortages at the agency.

In August, there were more than 10,000 short-term rentals operating in the city. As many of those are no longer technically legal, other platforms unaffected by local ordinances — like Sonder and Mint House — are looking to fill the void. Hotels and short-term rentals across state lines in New Jersey could also benefit.

In Chesky’s wide-ranging interview, he said the company was considering ways to give hosts dynamic pricing insight and touted the use of artificial intelligence as a quality control tool to verify listings on the platform.

— Holden Walter-Warner