Airbnb introduces Icons and group features for Australian travel bookers

It’s a frustration that everyone in a group booking scenario will feel. But now, a new ‘feature’ will eliminate that headache for good.

Airbnb users will soon experience a welcome change — especially when it comes to booking those big group trips.

With more than 80 per cent of bookings on the platform for large groups — think extended family escapes or girls’ getaways — developers noticed a clear pain point for users when it came to deciding on a property suitable for two or more guests.

The new Airbnb change is a big move for the platform.

The new Airbnb change hopes to cater for the mammoth amount of group bookings the platform receives.

As part of the upgrade to cater for this dominance in the market, the platform has introduced ‘shared wishlists’ which almost mimics a WhatsApp group for your Airbnb stay.

Essentially the new addition allows users to share wishlists with others on the intended trip, inviting them to add possible homes to book, write notes and vote on listings.

Once shared with others, the app creates a wishlist with these homes — allowing guests the ability to message a host with individual questions curating a group thread.

According to Airbnb, the spur for ‘wishlists’ came from the surge in group travel across the country.

Last year, July and September were popular for group trips in Australia — with Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Brisbane being the most popular domestic locations — while London, Queenstown in New Zealand, Paris and Rome ranked at the top for overseas jaunts.

Airbnb have announced a string of changes to the platform. Picture: MARIO TAMA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP.

In addition to the ‘group booking’ changes, the platform announced on Thursday a new category called ‘Icons’.

The new home of “extraordinary experiences”, icons are “experiences hosted by the greatest names in music, film, television, art, sports, and more” — taking guests to “worlds you’ve only ever dreamt of and turn them into reality”.

Icon experiences include a night in the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy where guests will sleep surrounded by F1 vehicles.

For the Pixar fans, guests can book “drift up” in the house from the iconic Pixar film Up! — where the home literally is lifted into the sky by an enormous crane.

The Up house is held in the air by a giant crane.

The X-men mansion will be popular with Marvel fans.

Decked out with around 8000 balloons, and ‘floating’ above the rocks of Abiquiu, New Mexico, this house has to be seen to be believed.

The introduction of ‘Icons’ means a shake-up of the app, with the new addition receiving its own category on the Airbnb homepage.

But these ‘icons’ can’t be booked by just anyone. A countdown displays the time until each Icon goes live, and guests can request to book through the app. Guests who are selected will receive a digital golden ticket, and more than 4000 tickets will be available in 2024.