Airbnb wants to be a travel agent
By Elizabeth Dwoskin, Wall Street Journal
Airbnb wants to be a travel agent.
People who opened the apartment-sharing company’s mobile app in San Francisco on Thursday found something new: recommendations for rentals around Lake Tahoe and other nearby getaways.
Surabhi Gupta, an Airbnb software engineer, said the feature is part of an effort by the six-year-old company to play a bigger role in “discovery” – helping people plan vacations and find new destinations. She spoke at a conference at Airbnb’s San Francisco headquarters Thursday.