Airbnb's new maps help you find a room during big events
"Airbnb for Events" lets organizers creative interactive listings near their venues.
If you enjoy scrambling and then paying a fortune, try waiting until the last minute to book lodging at a convention. Airbnb is helping event-goers and organizers avoid such heartbreak with a new feature called Airbnb for Events. It lets organizers create interactive maps of accommodation listings close to their venues, then embed them onto event websites, much like you can a custom Google Map. That could be handy for, say, planning weddings in places where hotels are sparse, or for convention attendees using Airbnb as a hotel of last resort.
To show how it works, Airbnb has provided the tool to various event management, wedding, trip planning and city guide platforms like Inspirock and WeddingWire. It points out that the service can help attendees find unique amenities and local accommodation while also saving money.
All of this, of course, will also help make Airbnb more cash, but the company has other good reasons to launch such tools. With city, regional and national governments around the world restricting and even curtailing Airbnb rentals, the company is trying to be a better local citizen. Offering services that can help cities accommodate more tourists can be mutually beneficial, especially when cities get slammed during big events.
