Beyond the Stay: A New Vision for Airbnb

I didn’t walk into this expecting to be impressed. Honestly, I thought I’d be tearing into Airbnb’s latest expansion — from housing into services and in-person experiences. I expected it to feel bloated, like a brand trying to be everything at once. But instead, I found myself having a kind of visceral trust in Airbnb that I couldn’t quite explain until I sat with it.

This isn’t a full teardown. It’s a strategic unpacking. And, in the end, a realization: maybe they’re onto something.

What Airbnb’s Doing Right, Even If It Feels Like a Lot

They’ve rolled out experiences and services: from chefs and massage therapists to photography, nail techs, and fitness trainers. Yes, it’s a big jump from “rent someone’s home” but maybe not as off-brand as it first seems.

Because when I imagine the use case, it actually makes sense.

• You arrive in a new city. You’re too tired to cook. You tap the app. A chef shows up.

  
  

• You’re prepping for a wedding weekend or a photoshoot. Book nails, hair, makeup — to your door.

  
  

• You’re on a brand trip or just a disciplined runner — book a trainer to meet you at your Airbnb.

  
  

That’s more than a booking platform. That’s a lifestyle operating system.

Why It Works: Emotional Trust, Visual Curation, and Clean UX

What Airbnb has — that platforms like Meetup and Eventbrite completely lack — is emotional trust. And they earn it in small but compounding ways:

• Real pictures. Not flyers. I can’t stress this enough. The absence of noisy graphics, ugly flyers, and random colors is not just a visual choice it’s a trust-building mechanism.

  
  

• Design consistency without design dictatorship. There’s no “one look,” but there is one vibe. Everything feels authentic. That matters more than aesthetics.

  
  

• People, not posters. I want to see who is going. I want to see what they’re doing. Airbnb shows you that. Eventbrite and Meetup don’t.

  
  

And that’s a big part of why I, someone who has never trusted Meetup or Eventbrite enough to actually attend anything, would absolutely consider attending something via Airbnb. Because I believe it’s real. Because I can see the faces. And because the platform doesn’t feel like it’s trying to sell me — it feels like it’s showing me.

Where the Strategy Could Shine Even More: Anchor to the Core

If I had to refine it, and I do, it’s this: Airbnb should double down on connecting these services to the home. That’s the brand’s emotional core.

The messaging should feel like:

“Wherever you go, we make the stay feel like home — chef included.”

That positioning makes everything feel native to Airbnb:

• Fitness trainer? Comes to your Airbnb.

• Chef? Cooks in your Airbnb.

• Makeup artist? You don’t have to leave.

• Experiences? Built into your travel, your neighborhood, your weekend.

  
  

It’s not just an events platform. It’s the new concierge. But decentralized. Local. Personal. Airbnb doesn’t need to dominate every market; it just needs to own the travel lifestyle.

And There’s an Entrepreneurial Flywheel Hidden Here

Here’s the other thing I’ve started to realize: this opens up a whole new creator economy vertical inside Airbnb. It’s already happening; Airbnb just hasn’t named it.

• A chef tests out her supper club idea with strangers in cities she visits.

• A fitness coach builds a traveling client base by offering Airbnb-based bootcamps.

• A beauty stylist creates a mobile glam squad that gets booked during wedding season weekends.

• Someone wants to build a recipe book? Host taste-testing experiences.

• A quiet reader starts a small book club for like-minded people and makes money doing it.

  
  

This is a low-barrier business launchpad with built-in discovery. And the more Airbnb leans into empowering creators of experiences, the more it becomes indispensable for both users and entrepreneurs.

What Airbnb Must Avoid

If I’m Airbnb, I’m cautious about two things:

1. Brand bloat. Don’t stray too far from the stay. Anchor everything to that travel-home-experience loop.

2. Safety & vetting. Keep the bar high. It’s the trust that makes this work. Lose that and you're just another listing platform.

   
   

Final Thought

I came in thinking Airbnb was spreading itself too thin. But what I found was a company quietly building an ecosystem one that blends hospitality, service, experience, and entrepreneurship.

Meetup and Eventbrite should be worried. Not because Airbnb copied them. But because Airbnb feels like a place I’d actually show up to.

And that matters.

— Donna Louissaint

Brand & Product Strategist