AirBnB and 23andMe: holiday deals… in the past

What can the colossus of apartments for holidays to make agreements with one of the largest companies from genomics? Business of course! AirBnB and 23andMe found they have one thing in common: somehow both companies do travel people.

Heritage Travel

This is the English name to indicate what in simple terms can be defined as “a journey in search of the origins of their family“. To put it in simple terms, it’s about visiting the villages from origin of the their ancestors. This phenomenon is becoming more and more important over the years. According to a recent report of AirBnB itself, the numbers are not negligible. Among the interviewees, in India L’89% claimed to have carried out a heritage travel, together with the 69% in France and in United States.
In Great Britain, Australia And Brazil, a large part of respondents said visiting a country linked to their ancestors is a factor very important in the choice of travel destinations.

AirBnB and 23andMe, how does it work?

Given the growing importance of Heritage Travel, AirBnB has decided to turn to one of the companies that most easily allows you to trace your ancestors through the DNA test. Following this agreement, in fact, the users from 23andMe will be able to log into directly at reservations from AirBnB for the countries from which they discovered their ancestors came. Users of the latter platform, on the other hand, have access to a page that groups some of the destinations more probable for this type of trip and to a direct link towards 23andMe.

The competition

These two companies not were however the unique to have this idea. There are indeed to rival them Ancestry.com coupled with Go Ahead Tourswho will cast gods guided tours in Europe complete with test of the DNA it’s a genealogist available. However, the larger size from AirBnB they will probably provide a considerable advantage towards opponents.

“At Airbnb, we believe that authentic travel experiences help you connect with local cultures and create a sense of belonging anywhere in the world; and what better way to do that than traveling to your roots? We’re proud to team up with 23andMe, the leader in helping people learn about their genes and ancestry, to make it easier for travelers to plan trips as unique as their DNA “. Joe Gebbia, co-founder of AirBnB and head of development.