Airbnb is enabling users to book
restaurant reservations after reaching an agreement with restaurant reservations
app Resy.
Airbnb is offering the ability
to make reservations at 650 U.S. restaurants. The company plans to expand its
inventory to restaurants in other countries within the next few months.
The company cited increased
restaurant spending by its guests for its decision to add the service. Airbnb
estimates that its guests spent more than $6.5 billion at restaurants within
the past year, including $500,000 in New York and more than $300 million in Los
Angeles.
The partnership may portend
Airbnb acquiring Resy, said Douglas Quinby, senior vice president of research
at Phocuswright. Such an acquisition would echo -- albeit on a smaller scale --
Priceline's move to acquire OpenTable for $2.6 billion in 2014.
"Their integration of
dining is just what you'd come to expect from Airbnb," Quinby said. "Whereas
other travel brands and platforms like Yelp have a clunky handoff to one
service or another, Airbnb dining is beautiful, curated and simple -- a natural
extension of homes and experiences."
Resy launched in 2014 and has
1.6 million registered users.