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OTA / TMCParis / New York

Airbnb Experiences Pivots to Locals as Paris Growth Hits 6x

After several false starts since launching more than a decade ago, Airbnb relaunched its experiences business in 2025 with a sluggish start. CEO Brian Chesky said at Skift Global Forum that the company chose to focus on getting one city right — Paris — and that focus is paying off with growth of 6x year over year. Locals in Paris are now booking experiences in Paris, and Airbnb plans to take that playbook to New York and other cities. The company has also relaxed its long-held resistance to high-demand mainstream tours of landmarks like the Eiffel Tower.

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Impact and considerations

If Airbnb's locals-first experiences playbook scales beyond Paris, it could reshape competition in the destination activities market and pressure incumbents such as Viator, GetYourGuide, and Klook.

Key points

  • Airbnb's experiences business, first launched more than a decade ago, went through several false starts before relaunching in 2025.
  • CEO Chesky said the strategy was to get one city right — Paris — where growth reached 6x year over year.
  • Chesky said locals in Paris are booking experiences in Paris, something the company never expected.
  • Airbnb plans to take the Paris playbook to New York and other cities, saying it is far from 1,000 cities but expects that soon.
  • Airbnb has relaxed its long-held resistance to high-demand mainstream tours of landmarks like the Eiffel Tower.

Sources and time

Primary source
Skift
Other sources
0
First source publication
27 Sept 2026, 20:01
Page published
27 Sept 2026, 20:37
Last updated
27 Sept 2026, 20:01
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