Airbnb Experiences| How to Host them and Increase your Income

What Are Airbnb Experiences?

Experience hosts are everyday people who offer their guests access to places and activities they wouldn’t typically find on their own. Airbnb Experiences are activities designed and led by inspiring locals. They go far beyond typical tours by immersing guests in each host’s passion and creativity. It’s an opportunity for anyone to share their hobbies, skills, or expertise without needing an extra room. Pretty cool.

The Experience Platform

First launched in New York City in 2016 with only 150 Experiences. As of 2019, there are more than 4,0000 Experiences listed in 40 cities across 26 countries. Experiences are are catching on and growing around 13 times faster than the Airbnb rental property business.

Benefits of Hosting an Experience

Across the experience platform, guests are willing to pay an average of $55 per booking. That can really add up, for example if you take on groups up to 10. Airbnb hosts who already rent property can join Experiences to make even more money. Adding on an Airbnb Experience is a great way to bring in more income. You can promote your Airbnb Experience on its own, you can also promote it to your property rental guests. Let them know that you also offer an Airbnb Experience and you can sell it as an upgrade to your property listing.

Start a Business with No Upfront Costs

You can instantly start a business. On experiences you get your own lisiting on Airbnb that guests can use to book your experience. Airbnb handles payment processing, provides 24-hour customer service, and also covers liability insurance. Up to $1 million insurance coverage for most activities.

The best part is you can set your availability and decide when you want to host. You can set a schedule that works for you, whether that be daily, weekly, or monthly. You can pick your group size and price, and easily manage all the details on the go inside the mobile app.

Categories of Experiences

For hosts looking to offer an Airbnb Experience, there are several categories of Experiences available to book on the Airbnb platform. Guests are shown the experiences offered in each city under the listings. Airbnb will also showcase popular and new experiences. These categories include:

• Food & Drink (1/3 of all bookings)
• Arts
• Concerts
• Classes & Workshops
• Nature and Wildlife
• Sports
• History
• Entertainment and Music
• Health & Wellness
• Social Impact (Inspiring activities that support local causes)
• Culture Walks
• Nightlife

What could I Host?

Decide what is your passion and people will pay to experience what you have to offer. Here are some Ideas…

Photographers: Tourists love to have their photos taken. Why not offer a mini photo shoot as you tour them around a famous or historic area.

Home cooks: If you love to cook fresh pasta, why not host small groups to learn how to make it from scratch?

Foodies: If you know the hot spots in town, why not take people around to do mini tastings at local businesses.

Dancers: If you know how to salsa, why not teach other people for an afternoon?

Artists: If you have a studio space, why not have a beginners painting session.

Hikers: Do you know a great hike that people would love to see? Take them on some trails with a picnic lunch at the top.

How to Apply for Airbnb Experiences

To create an Airbnb Experience, hosts must first apply and be approved. Although the commission for Airbnb Experiences is higher than the commission for Airbnb property rentals, Experiences hosts still benefit, as they can host more frequently than with property rentals. Airbnb takes a commission of 20% of the fee per Experience charged to guests from the hosts. The guest rating system is looked at more closely if your not getting 5 stars the popularity of the experience will go down.

Is it Right for You?

If you want to increase your earnings on Airbnb and you have what it takes to host, Airing Experiences is something that you should definitely look into. If you love connecting with people and have a strong desire to start a business based on a creative passion or skill, then it might be a great choice for you. Have a look in your area what other hosts are offering. See if you have a niche idea that guests would love.

Just note, experience hosts may need to obtain a business license for certain activities. This is especially true if the Airbnb Experience involves food, alcohol or transportation.

Some examples of Everyday people hosting Exciting Experiences are:

• Los Angeles, USA: Hike with a Rescue Dog
• Santa Monica, USA: Yoga on the Beach
• Paris, France: French Breakfast Cooking Class
• New York, USA: Street Art with an Insider
• Florida, Usa:  Culture Walk Miami Beach
• Barcelona, Spain: Bike Tour and Tapas

If you want to learn more about Hosting, become a Superhost or take your Airbnb to the next level check out my book ‘The Ultimate Superhost Guide’ It’s available Here on Etsy.

( P.s it comes with lots of Freebies like a Customizable Guest Welcome book!)