Airbnb branches into exclusive Austin experiences
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Airbnb is launching a new tier of exclusive curated experiences that include cultivated programming in Austin.
Why it matters: The company is increasingly going beyond what it is best-known for, arranging home rentals for travelers, to meet a growing hunger for in-person experiences.
Driving the news: The so-called Originals is one of several new offerings announced at Airbnb's 2025 Summer Release event this month in Los Angeles.
What they're saying: Jay Carney, the company's global head of policy and communications, tells Axios that Originals events are the highest tier of experiences they have to offer.
- "These are once-in-a-lifetime kinds of experiences because of who the host is and what they're offering. It's that combination of 'I can't believe I'm doing this with this person' and the fact you can only do it on Airbnb."
Airbnb has been offering "experiences" since 2016, but the new Originals promise to be more exclusive, with prices ranging from $20 to $200 per guest.
How it works: From the home page, search your city or the city you're visiting under the Experiences tab, select dates and the number of guests.
- Originals will be labeled as such in the search results and you can book by clicking on the listing.
Zoom in: Architect Ben Heimsath tells Axios that the Hyde Park historic homes tour he leads exclusively through Airbnb focuses on how "Austin would be a different place" if not for the major events and personalities involved in the neighborhood's creation in the late 19th century and its preservation in the 1980s.
- His 90-minute tours run $45 per person.
- He wouldn't specify how much Airbnb takes, but he said: "It's a reasonable arrangement. I get to share my expertise, and later I can come back and take my wife out to dinner."
- The next tour is scheduled for May 31.
Other Austin experiences include:
- Eating Austin tacos with restaurateur C.K. Chin.
- Practicing pickleball at Austin Pickle Ranch with professional pickleballer Brandon Nsekpong.
- Taking a private tour of the home, garden and studio of noted Austin sculptor Charles Umlauf with Katie Robinson Edwards, the executive director and curator of the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum.
The intrigue: Heimsath says Airbnb approached him about doing the tour — not the other way around.
- "One of the top reasons people use Airbnb is because they want to live like a local," Airbnb spokesperson Matt McNama tells Axios. "Sometimes it can be hard to find out what to do in a city. We want to connect people with what's so authentic about their city."
Airbnb also announced that Experiences will be "vetted for quality" and are now available in 650 cities worldwide.
- Later this year, guests will be able to see who's going before they book, message the group or individual guests during the experience, and stay in touch afterward.
The bottom line: The vacation rental company is aiming to get people to use the app even if they aren't traveling.
- "You're using the technology as a tool to get you to do something real in front of someone real that you're going to remember for a long time," Carney says.