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www.travelweekly-asia.com | 3 TALKING POINT Arnie Weissmann has been involved in virtually every aspect of travel jour- nalism, publishing and media for the past 25 years. His writing has won more than 40 national awards, he created the industry's first destination information service (Weissmann Reports), authored a best-selling textbook and has served as publisher of critical hotel and destination guides for the travel industry. 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Kemp CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Lisa Cohen PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER Matthew Yorke EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHER David Blansfield EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arnie Weissmann SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEF CONTENT DIRECTOR Lori Cioffi SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Janine L. Bavoso SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION Roberta Muller SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, IT INFRASTRUCTURE & OPERATIONS Rich Mastropietro VICE PRESIDENT, INFORMATION PRODUCTS GROUP Sheila Rice VICE PRESIDENT, DATABASE PRODUCTS Elizabeth Koesser TRAVEL WEEKLY EVENTS PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS, TRAVEL GROUP Alicia Evanko-Lewis I can't recall seeing a tour operator brochure featuring a photo of unsmiling tourists huddled under an awning, waiting for a downpour to ease up. But we've all witnessed or been a cast member of that scene. While travellers may note rainy/ dry seasons during trip planning, they begin to experience what tour operators call "day-of uncertainty" as the journey approaches. Everything from concerns about weather to doubts about what they'll be in the mood to do on a given day can become a barrier for attractions and excursion operators to secure deposits. Although this is seen as a challenge to the industry, Airbnb saw it as opportunity when it launched Experiences, a platform that gives people the chance to make money guiding visitors in their hometowns, even on short notice. And now Airbnb is giving tour operators days, weeks and months of uncertainty as it moves aggressively to provide amateur guides for vacationers. At SXSW earlier this month, I had breakfast with Riccardo Ulivi, who is leading that effort for Airbnb in North and South America. Unlike the home-share business, Experiences is somewhat selective about who can use its platform. "We've had 100,000 hosts apply, and over 20,000 were accepted," Ulivi said. His focus is on the value of the experience. He wants offerings that showcase the community, e.g., fashion in New York, architecture in Tokyo. Airbnb provides guidance on pricing, crafting bios and what makes a good experience. "Unprecedented access" is favoured, and it takes pride in offering "a unique set of personalities" as hosts. Ulivi said he had convinced a roommate who Day of uncertainty was struggling as a hat designer to give up his supplemental job in a restaurant to become a guide. The Art of Hatmaking has become a success, he said. Guests meet at the roommate's studio, where he explains the creative process, demonstrates hat-making equipment and shows fabrics. The challenges that Experiences represents for tour operators are as great or greater than what home-sharing poses for hotels. The number of offerings - 30,000, and counting - dwarves what even the largest tour operator can assemble. Tour operations work on notoriously thin margins; platform- based Experiences adds very little expense as it scales up. It doesn't take much up-front work to launch each tour. There's incredible diversification of activities and saturating geographic reach. Airbnb had recently purchased HotelTonight, which provided it with access to distressed hotel inventory. Would Ulivi consider listing distressed legacy escorted tours too? "We have been approached by large tour operators and we'll work with a brand that can give us access to a community," Ulivi said. "We don't shy away from the existing tour industry, but we feel we're the antidote to mass tourism." Airbnb maintains that it doesn't compete with hotels as much as it offers a new form of accommodations. Similarly, Ulivi said, "We don't compete with tour operators. This isn't a turf war. We're not trying to steal from the double-decker bus companies. We're creating an entirely new experience." Still, if I were a tour operator, my antennae would be up, examining the model as both a threat and a source of learning."

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