Airbnb is pushing far beyond home rentals, rolling out airport pickups, grocery delivery, luggage storage, car rentals, boutique hotels and exclusive travel experiences as it expands deeper into travel services.
The company announced Wednesday that travelers can now book grocery delivery through Instacart in more than 25 US cities, airport rides through Welcome Pickups in over 160 cities worldwide and luggage storage through Bounce at more than 15,000 locations globally.
Airbnb also plans to launch in-app car rentals later this summer.
“We want to bring a little bit of magic to every trip you’re on,” Airbnb Chief Business Officer Dave Stephenson told FOX Business.
At the same time, Airbnb is adding boutique and independent hotels in major cities including New York, Paris, London, Rome and Singapore, alongside new AI-powered features like review summaries, listing comparisons and smarter customer support tools.
The expansion builds on Airbnb’s broader push into travel services and experiences beyond traditional home stays.
“[When COVID-19] hit, we had to retrench and focus on the core, and then we did that for a number of years and really worked on and perfected the kind of core business,” Stephenson said. “But then a couple of years ago, part of me coming into this new role was to get us ready to expand into services [and] experiences, which we did May of last year.”
Airbnb now offers more than 3,000 curated experiences worldwide, including tours tied to landmarks such as the Tower of London, Tokyo Skytree and the Taj Mahal.
The company is also leaning into FIFA World Cup 2026 travel with exclusive fan events and athlete-led experiences.
Stephenson said Airbnb expects World Cup demand to outpace the surge it saw during the Paris Olympics, when more than 700,000 guests stayed in Airbnb properties.
“The average homeowner is going to earn about $3,000 from sharing their place,” he said.
Airbnb is also adding new social and group-planning tools. A revamped Trips tab will show reservations alongside nearby restaurants, attractions and experiences, letting users save spots and build shared itineraries.
Later this summer, Airbnb will launch a new travel map and “connections” feature, allowing users to see where friends have stayed, browse their reviews and bookings, and message them directly for travel tips.
“These group itineraries — I think it’s going to be a really cool new feature that people will find really valuable, because when you travel in Airbnb, you tend to travel with family and friends,” Stephenson said.
The new services and hotel offerings are available now in select markets, while car rentals and additional app features are expected to roll out later this summer.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
