Airbnb today announces the arrival of Trips in Singapore, following the global debut of this new platform in Los Angeles in November 2016. Singapore is the first Southeast Asian city to debut the new offering.
Trips moves the company beyond a home sharing concept, taking the same people-focused approach to other aspects of the trip. It comprises three core elements: Homes, Experiences and Places. Trips brings unique local experiences, insider guides and events designed and led by locals to guests staying with Airbnb and those not on the platform.
Until now, Airbnb has been about home sharing, transforming the way people travel by allowing them to live like locals. With Trips, Airbnb takes this a few steps further, adding bookable local Experiences to offer visitors an authentic and immersive way of exploring a new city. Experiences are designed and led by local experts who share an insider’s view of their city with curious travelers, giving unprecedented access to areas and places that people wouldn’t otherwise see.
Today, Airbnb launches local Experiences in Singapore, each showcasing a different side of the city – from making soon kueh in Jalan Besar to learning about dragon kilns. Airbnb’s Experiences let people explore the very best a city has to offer – all powered by locals who are passionate about what they do.
With Trips, Airbnb can help spread the benefits of tourism throughout a city, operating as a platform for locals to make extra money by sharing their passions and interests, while simultaneously helping them explore new and interesting things to do in their own backyard.
We want to make travel magical again by immersing curious visitors in local cities and neighborhoods, offering yet another way for the Airbnb community to help you feel like an insider in Singapore.
Singapore is a heritage hub with incredible diversity, culture and energy. I’m so excited to be launching Experiences here today.
Joe Gebbia, Airbnb co-founder and Chief Product Officer
Many people only see a certain side of Singapore – the modern metropolis that’s a high-tech economic and shopping hub – so they miss out on many of the things that make us tick, like our standards when it comes to that plate of noodles or understanding the stories behind Singapore’s hawker scene. Food in Singapore isn’t just about how good something tastes. It represents the way we live, how we think, and how we connect with one another as a community. It tells the story of our history.
I’m genuinely proud to be one of the first Experience hosts in Singapore. Being able to share my parents’ story and this piece of culture and craft with both travelers and locals who want a real taste of Singapore and Soon Kueh is a privilege! I’m thrilled they can learn more about the traditions and values of the generations who have come before me.
Nick Soon, owner of hawker stall One Kueh at a Time and one of Singapore’s first Experience hosts
There are now over 800 Experiences available in 14 cities around the world – including Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul here in Asia Pacific – with over 50 cities due to be live by the end of the year.
Another element of Trips is Places, which makes the most of local expertise by adding the recommendations of hundreds of thousands of Airbnb hosts, neighborhood insiders and local influencers to the platform, providing travelers with access to a city’s hidden gems, as well as the chance to socialize with other guests and locals through meet up events. Places will go live in Singapore later this year.
About Airbnb
Founded in 2008, Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where people can belong when they travel by being connected to local cultures and having unique travel experiences. Its community marketplace provides access to millions of unique accommodations from apartments and villas to castles and treehouses in more than 65,000 cities and 191 countries. With Experiences, Airbnb offers unprecedented access to local communities and interests, whilst Places lets people discover the hidden gems of a city as recommended by the people that live there. Airbnb is people powered and the easiest way to earn a little extra income from extra space in a home or from sharing passions, interests and cities.