July 18, 2016 TnH Global

Airbnb to bring festival of hosting to Los Angeles

Ashton Kutcher, Gwyneth Paltrow, Elizabeth Gilbert, Brian Grazer and many more lined up to speak at the three day festival that aims to re-imagine the future of travel and hospitality!

Airbnb, the world’s leading community-driven hospitality company, reveals how its annual community gathering, the Airbnb Open, will be transformed this year into a festival of hosting. The third Airbnb Open will take place in downtown Los Angeles in November and combine visionary talks and company updates with music, art and food, celebrating the very best of this eclectic and resurgent city.

Last year, Airbnb welcomed over 5,000 hosts from 110 countries to Paris, France where we also announced we would host Airbnb Open 2016 in Los Angeles. This year, Airbnb plans to expand the scope of the Airbnb Open, welcoming both hosts and guests from its community as well as local Angelenos and others to explore the future of travel and hospitality.

The annual Airbnb Open is an opportunity for Airbnb’s community to gather in one place and for hosts in particular to make meaningful connections with each other and learn tips for successful hosting, as well as hearing the latest news from the company, with important product updates.

Visionary and informative keynotes will again lie at the heart of this year’s event with confirmed speakers including Gwyneth Paltrow (Academy Award Winning Actress and Founder of goop), Brian Grazer (Academy Award and Emmy Award winning Producer, New York Times Bestselling Author), Ashton Kutcher (actor/investor), Elizabeth Gilbert (Bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and Big Magic), Blake Mycoskie (Chief Shoe Giver/Founder TOMS), and Danny Meyer (Union Square Hospitality Group CEO, Shake Shack Founder, Bestselling Author), as well as Airbnb’s founders, executives and more than 30 host and guest educators from the community.

Art, music, food and support for small businesses, makers and artisans will be a focal point of this year’s Airbnb Open with presenting partner American Express curating the Airbnb Open Spotlight: Los Angeles. This showcase, with tickets also made available for the general public to purchase, will act as a closing celebration for Airbnb Open, featuring headlining musical talent, a Shop Small® Market and special guests to be announced in the coming months.

“This year’s Airbnb Open will be a seminal moment for our community as we announce our vision for the future of hosting and travel” said Airbnb Co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky. “As the first ever global festival of hosting, the Open will bring together hosts and guests from across the globe in one of the most creative places in the world, Los Angeles. The city will be an open canvas for them to explore for three days of education, connection and celebration.”

This year’s Airbnb Open will highlight the thriving downtown area of LA, taking place across four historic theatres and involving many local restaurants, cafes and other small businesses. Attendees will have the chance to engage with locals and a diverse range of communities, immersing themselves in the energy of the city and experiencing what it would be like to live there.

The Airbnb Open takes place from November 17-19 in Los Angeles. Early bird ticket registration opens today. For more information, visit www.airbnb.com/open