WineBNB

In one of our recent classes we spoke about Airbnb's impact on the local hospitality landscape in places like Napa that have traditionally relied on tourism to the region to drive winery visits and tasting room sales. Though we noted that visitors, especially millennial consumers, are increasingly buying wines by the bottle and consuming from the comfort of a sofa or backyard, I believe there's an opportunity for vineyards to leverage the Airbnb platform.

Airbnb has been investing heavily in it's Experiences business, in which hosts sign up to offer visitors intimate, unique and creative, local experiences. At the beginning of 2018, Airbnb announced that it planned to Expand experiences to 1,000 new destinations by the end of year. Often, experiences are hosted by local individuals who want to share their passion for activities like photography, hiking or cooking. However, wineries could tap into Airbnb's growing popularity by marketing their tasting experiences and vineyard visits to consumers through listing on the platform.

On the site today, one can find opportunities for tastings in cities like London, Paris and New York, some of which feature experiences as simple as a trip to a local store followed by a guided tasting. Listings in Napa and Sonoma include food and wine walking tours, as well as visits to small tasting rooms. However, established and storied wineries, like those we saw in class, are notably absent. These wineries should leverage their brands and their often breaktaking vineyard properties to attract visitors to the area who otherwise might not be familiar with them or inclined to visit.

Source:

https://press.airbnb.com/airbnb-doubles-down-on-experiences-expanding-to-1000-destinations-and-adding-new-categories-in-2018/