[venantius]

This is more or less correct - authentic, local experiences have always been top of mind. It was sort of an accident that in the process we also stumbled onto "stay somewhere cheap" with a better reputation system than CouchSurfer, et al.

Another way of thinking about this is to understand that Airbnb doesn't think of itself as an accommodations company, and hasn't for years. It thinks of itself as a travel company, and this has significant implications for its overall strategy.