Ashton Kutcher confronted by protester at Airbnb event

The story Airbnb launches Trips and aims to be the only travel app you’ll ever need first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

Chief Executive Brian Chesky kicked off a three-day event in Los Angeles with the announcement that Airbnb would offer travelers the opportunity to create customized itineraries for hours or days that afford a more authentic local experience.

A spokeswoman would not give any more detail about the timing of the flights and services launch, nor how the flights would be sold.

The company also is publishing “insider guidebooks”-so far, they have them for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Havana, Nairobi, Detroit, and Seoul, with more in the works”.

The protester was calling for Airbnb to get out of Jewish settlements in Palestine.

“Experiences” allows users to book experiences designed and offered by local experts and chefs, and includes categories like arts & design, fashion, entertainment, sports, wellness, nightlife, food & drink, nature, lifestyle, history, music and business. (In many major cities, renting out homes gets hosts several thousand dollars a year.) But as with most of the gig economy, the earning potential will typically increase depending on the time and effort dedicated by hosts. “What we’ve learned is that the more cities meet our hosts-not me-when they meet our hosts, I think they way they think [about Airbnb] changes dramatically”.

Since launching in 2008, Airbnb has quickly become the go-to destination for booking a place to stay, renting out your home, or paying $193/night to sleep inside of a London clock tower. “So from this point forward, when I am confronted with one of these comments, subtle or overt, I will address them head on; I will stop in the moment and do my best to educate”, she wrote.

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Chesky adds that the catch with AirBnB Trips is that it’s not as easy for any host to put up a local tour that travelers can book for. It’s raised $3.9 billion from investors, according to CB Insights, which tracks venture funding.

After guiding the woman off the stage, Ashton, who was seated next to Airbnb founder Brian Chesky, began to rally the crowd and reiterate the importance of inclusion and acceptance. The newspaper cited internal projections that forecast Airbnb to have almost $1 billion in revenue past year and to become profitable by 2020. “We thought that NY and San Francisco were the two cities that would be precedent-setters”, he said.

Marketing is launching in the company’s three key markets of North America, the United Kingdom and Australia, according to Airbnb Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Mildenhall. “Our angle is how do we use tech to bring people to lead to great travel experiences”, he said. The San Francisco-based startup said in September that it took in $555.46 million through a private funding round that launched in late July and remained open, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.