Airbnb brings Trips to Queenstown

Media release
For immediate release
March 31, 2017

MEDIA RELEASE

Airbnb brings Trips to Queenstown

Travel platform expands beyond accommodation, with the launch of local Experiences

FRIDAY 31ST MARCH, 2017 - QUEENSTOWN: Airbnb is making it easier for New Zealanders to share their world with others by expanding beyond accommodation with the launch of Trips, which brings together where you stay, what you do and the people you meet, all into one platform.

As the most significant development in Airbnb’s eight-year history, Trips is one platform that offers amazing homes, authentic local experiences, tips, social events and recommendations from local insiders.

Originally launched in 12 cities around the world, Airbnb is now expanding Trips to New Zealand with an initial focus on Queenstown. Starting today, fellow Kiwis and travellers can choose from close to ten curated Queenstown-based activities designed and led by local experts, including donning a bee suit and gloves, and getting up close to an active beehive where you might even spot the Queen Bee, to getting your adrenaline fix with a Helicopter Mountain Run.

Vice President of Product and one of Airbnb’s first employees, Joe Zadeh, unveiled the news in New Zealand today.

“Since we launched Trips at Airbnb Open last November, we’ve been overwhelmed by the positive feedback and interest we’re seeing from hosts and travellers alike. Everyone is eager to experience a different side of a city whilst immersing themselves in local communities,” he said.

“Trips gives people travelling to Queenstown the opportunity to feel like they can truly belong anywhere - which is integral to Airbnb’s global community. For locals in Queenstown, they can participate in and contribute to local tourism, sharing their skills and favourite experiences with others, whilst making a little extra money from their interests and passions. It’s a great way for people to discover new things to do, meet new people, and play tourist in their own backyard.”

Through people-powered hospitality, Airbnb has transformed where people stay, taking this same approach to the rest of guests’ trips. Designed to make travel both easy and magical, Trips covers several key areas including; Experiences and Homes.

Experiences offer unprecedented access to locals sharing their passions and interests, with almost ten now available to book online. From everyday Kiwis to professional tour guides, New Zealanders are embracing the share economy, delivering Experiences that are in keeping with Airbnb’s culture and quality standards. A few of these include:

Take to the skies with the Helicopter Mountain Run adventure of a lifetime! Enjoy a scenic helicopter trip over snow-capped mountains and eventually land in the middle of some of the most untouched land in the world. Here you’ll lace up the trail runners and make your way out of the mountains returning to Queenstown for a well-earned beverage.

Step inside a jewellery workshop and learn how to use the tools of the trade to make personalised jewels.

From pouring the perfect espresso to discovering specialty lattes, learn the art of making a delicious coffee and create your own signature blend whilst overlooking Lake Wakatipu.

Experience wine tasting in three exclusive vineyards not typically opened to the public. Wander through the vines and go behind the scenes of boutique wineries where your host will teach you about how premium wines are made in the Gibbston Valley.

Homes

With three million homes available to book across 191 countries, Airbnb offers the largest and most diverse range of unique accommodation options for travellers. In New Zealand alone, there are 19,000 listings, with 2,000 local properties in Queenstown available for visitors to choose from.

Airbnb Country Manager - New Zealand and Regional Manager for Trips, Sam McDonagh, commented on the range of newly unearthed Experiences now available for New Zealanders to book.

“Since Trips launched last year, the local Airbnb team has been busy working with the travel industry, local experts and businesses, as well as everyday Kiwis, to uncover experiences that best showcase this great city, and we’re only just getting started,” he said.

“Whether you’re interested in food and wine, cultural discoveries or new adventures, Trips offers people the opportunity to share their passions, whilst gaining unprecedented access to our global community and places that they would otherwise never have known.

“Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll continue to add more Experiences to the Trips platform, and welcome the chance to work with the local community to share this amazing corner of the world with others.”

To experience all the new Airbnb features, simply open the Airbnb app or visit www.airbnb.co.nz.

ENDS

Notes to the Editor

Since November 2016, Airbnb Trips has:

Over 800 active Experiences globally

Bookings have been received from over 73 different countries

91% of Experiences have been given a 5-star rating

Airbnb in New Zealand

Number of listings: approximately 19,000

Average amount earned by hosts: $2,900 per annum

Average host age: 28 years old

Average length of stay per guest: 3 nights

Top five international markets Airbnb travellers to New Zealand originate from: Sydney, Melbourne, London, Singapore and Brisbane

Airbnb in Queenstown

Number of listings: 2,000

Average amount earned by hosts: $8,600 per annum

Average host age: 43 years old

Average length of stay per guest: 3 nights

Airbnb in Auckland

Number of listings: 7,000

Average amount earned by hosts: $3,200 per annum

Average host age: 44 years old

Average length of stay per guest: 4 nights

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

An impressive line-up of international and Kiwi authors, including one of the world’s top crime writers Ian Rankin, writer and theatremaker Stella Duffy, multi-award-winning English novelist and journalist John Lanchester, Australian author Hannah Kent, English biographer and writer of Victorian thrillers MJ Carter and writer-performer Rebecca Vaughan, join the third Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival to be held May 9–14 2017.

Launched today, the Festival programme includes more than 80 writers and performers across 36 public events – from writer workshops and panel sessions to poetry readings, theatrical events, author talks and family events. Programme Director Claire Finlayson says the diversity of writers and events on offer – many free – is designed to appeal to readers from all walks of life.

“As New Zealand’s only UNESCO city of literature, Dunedin is a booklover’s paradise and home to many of the country’s much-loved authors,” says Ms Finlayson.

“The Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival reflects our city’s range of interests and talents – from sessions on how to drink beer to a Flying Nun music event at the iconic Captain Cook bar, acoustic music with singer-songwriters Nadia Reid and Karl Bray, to a Mother’s Day brunch that brings together popular writer Emily Writes with Sunday magazine columnist Leah McFall. We have attracted writers from around the world alongside our top Kiwi and local Otago talent.”

Festival highlights include sessions with international authors and guests of the Auckland Writers Festival, Rankin, Duffy, Lanchester, Carter and Vaughan, who will go to Auckland after the Dunedin Festival. Vaughan’s ‘Jane Eyre: An Autobiography’ – in which she plays 24 characters – has been met with rave reviews across the globe.

Award-winning Australian author Hannah Kent also joins the Festival alongside New Zealand writers Catherine Chidgey, Glenn Colquhoun, Victor Rodger, Bill Manhire, Kate De Goldi, Paul Beavis and an array of local writers including Emma Neale, Majella Cullinane, Paddy Richardson and more.

One of the standout events will see nine out of the 10 New Zealand Poet Laureates come together for ‘A Circle of Laureates’, with Rob Tuwhare reading for his father, much-loved poet Hone Tuwhare.

Festival goers can also experience a taste of the writers on offer at the Metamorphosis Gala Showcase night on Friday 12 May at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum which features Ian Rankin, Stella Duffy, John Lanchester, Hannah Kent, Bill Manhire and Victor Rodger together with MC Kate De Goldi.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing some of the world’s best writers to Dunedin for a literary feast for young and old. It’ll be a week of excellently effervescent chat,” says Ms Finlayson.

“I encourage festivalgoers to get in early and secure their seats. Book your kid-sitters, file your annual leave forms, and shuffle swiftly to the ticket counter.”

Tickets to major events go on sale through TicketDirect today at 9am.

The Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival is supported by Dunedin City Council, Creative NZ, Otago Community Trust, The Lion Foundation, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Libraries, the New Zealand Book Council, Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, Dunedin Athenaeum & Mechanics’ Institute, Otago Access Radio, and Division of Humanities (Performing Arts Fund); and major sponsors Otago Daily Times, BrandAid, Otago University Press, University Book Shop and The Children’s Room and Bookshop, Marks & Worth, JW Smeaton, Scenic Hotel Southern Cross, helloworld, NHNZ, National Library of New Zealand, and Phantom Billstickers.

ENDS

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