To combat overcrowding at certain popular tourist attractions, Airbnb on Wednesday unveiled a new feature that encourages its users to search by trip type rather than destination.
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The goal is to encourage consumers to look elsewhere than the crowded places like Venice, Paris or major American cities, platform officials said.
Aspiring travelers can usually search for their stay by typing a destination into a search bar and selecting dates. However, vacationers tend to choose the same travel destinations, Airbnb notes.
The platform will now offer them a wide range of categories such as “beach”, “national parks” or “icon city” and several destinations will appear at different prices in different countries.
More than four million rental apartments have already been assigned to one or more categories, and more will follow.
Users can still search by destination, but the new option offers an alternative to direct demand away from oversold locations, Chief Executive Brian Chesky said in a news conference.
“We found that everyone went to the same places. They hit Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami, Rome, Los Angeles and New York,” he said.
“We’re trying to spread everyone out across as many locations and dates as possible,” Chesky added, noting that less popular dates may be offered to flexible vacationers.
This initiative benefits Airbnb, but also makes it possible “to alleviate part of the problem of overtourism,” he estimated.
“Overtourism is not the result of too many people traveling around the world (…) but the result of too many people traveling to the same places at the same time,” the official added.
Airbnb will also offer a new option called “Split Stays,” which will allow you to split your stay across multiple locations with similar characteristics when availability is limited for a specific period.
This feature will be available for Skiing, Surfing, Camping and National Parks categories.
The platform is also giving its users up to three days, instead of the current 24 hours, to request a change in rent or a refund if the accommodation does not match the description.