5 Things We Learned from Airbnb Co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky's Keynote Speech

During a keynote in San Francisco, Airbnb Co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky announced that the company is significantly expanding its home business to bring accessible travel to everyone. 

So, what does that mean for travelers? 

New Property Types 

As property offerings have expanded, the amount of types of properties on the platform have become increasingly diverse from treehouses to boutique hotels but it’s still only possible to navigate by three property types: Shared Space, Private Room, and Entire Home. This makes it hard for hosts to stand out and guests can’t always find what they’re looking for.
 
To address this, Airbnb will add 4 new property types to its platform: Vacation Home, Unique Space, B&B, and Boutique. This will give greater choice of accommodation options to guests, provide greater transparency over the types of accommodation available, and help hosts showcase what’s unique about them to better match with guests’ preferences. 

This feature will launch this summer. 
 
Airbnb Collections

Airbnb is launching Collections—homes for every occasion. Launching this week is Airbnb for Family and Airbnb for Work with Collections for Social stays, Weddings, Honeymoons, Group getaways, and Dinner parties coming later this year.

 
New Tiers - Airbnb Plus

To broaden the appeal of Airbnb to even more guests, and to recognize hosts who go above and beyond to provide outstanding hospitality, Airbnb is today launching a new tier of homes on Airbnb that have been personally verified for quality and comfort. Starting with 2,000 homes in 13 cities available to book right now, Airbnb Plus is intended for guests looking for amazing homes. Airbnb Plus homes have been inspected and verified in person against a 100+ point checklist covering cleanliness, comfort, and design. Airbnb Plus hosts benefit from top placement, in-home services such as design consultation and expert photography, and premium support.
 
New Tiers - Luxury
Following last year’s acquisition of Luxury Retreats, Airbnb today previews a new standard in travel—Beyond by Airbnb. Launching this Spring, Beyond by Airbnb will offer custom-designed trips of a lifetime, including the world’s finest homes, custom experiences, and world-class hospitality.
 
Recognition - Investing in the Airbnb Community
Hosts and guests are the heart of Airbnb. Through its Superhost program, which now includes 400,000 hosts globally, Airbnb already recognizes its most loved hosts. Today it announces an expansion of the program to offer 14 new and updated benefits including better exposure, custom urls and exclusive benefits on smart home products. Visit airbnb.com/superhost to see the full range of benefits.
 
Later this year, Airbnb will also recognize its best guests with a new guest membership program offering benefits across the entire trip. Superguest will launch initially to 10,000 guests as a trial this summer before being rolled out to Airbnb’s wider guest community before the end of the year.