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Interesting. A startup, BeSomebody, actually just pitched this item on SharkTank. His presentation did not go well at all, and he got no money. But the idea see

by chris11 10y ago

Interesting. A startup, BeSomebody, actually just pitched this item on SharkTank. His presentation did not go well at all, and he got no money. But the idea seems really cool. So I'm glad Airbnb is implementing it.

venantius 10y ago
A few different companies and people have tried to do this before, but they've generally struggled to find adoption. I think, since this is a fairly natural complement to Airbnb's existing business, that Airbnb may succeed where the others have failed, but only time will tell.
shard 10y ago
I was a co-founder of a startup which had this concept back in 2011. There must have been some sort of global zeitgeist or something because during that year over 40 competing startups showed up all over the world. Only a few survived, and unfortunately my startup was not one of them. Even the ones that did survive never did that well, Vayable and Viator got acquired, and some small time sites are still dragging on. I am curious whether AirBnB has a different take on it. The major problem is that it is hard to deliver on that promise and implication of an authentic experience from a local who is more interested in showing you his/her world than money. Actual individual tour guides have scheduling issues due to them having lives and jobs outside of giving tours, which then makes the system favor organized tour operators, and we go back full circle to big tour groups.
- ryuker16 10y ago
  I'm a host and while couples rarely want a tourist guide I did have a few who wanted/expected the service(single men). Having a few bonus packages on top wouldn't hurt my wallet.
- chris11 10y ago
  That's a good point about not finding enough local guides. I'd expect people would be less picky about housing assuming the quality and prices were reasonable. But someone wanting to tour wineries might not be ok going mountain biking if that was the only option available when they had time.

by chris11 10y ago

venantius 10y ago

A few different companies and people have tried to do this before, but they've generally struggled to find adoption. I think, since this is a fairly natural complement to Airbnb's existing business, that Airbnb may succeed where the others have failed, but only time will tell.

shard 10y ago

I was a co-founder of a startup which had this concept back in 2011. There must have been some sort of global zeitgeist or something because during that year over 40 competing startups showed up all over the world. Only a few survived, and unfortunately my startup was not one of them. Even the ones that did survive never did that well, Vayable and Viator got acquired, and some small time sites are still dragging on. I am curious whether AirBnB has a different take on it. The major problem is that it is hard to deliver on that promise and implication of an authentic experience from a local who is more interested in showing you his/her world than money. Actual individual tour guides have scheduling issues due to them having lives and jobs outside of giving tours, which then makes the system favor organized tour operators, and we go back full circle to big tour groups.

ryuker16 10y ago
I'm a host and while couples rarely want a tourist guide I did have a few who wanted/expected the service(single men). Having a few bonus packages on top wouldn't hurt my wallet.
chris11 10y ago
That's a good point about not finding enough local guides. I'd expect people would be less picky about housing assuming the quality and prices were reasonable. But someone wanting to tour wineries might not be ok going mountain biking if that was the only option available when they had time.