Airbnb is expanding its portfolio of offerings with the launch of Trips, an innovative new development that focuses on traveler experience, personalization and social connections.

For the past eight years, Airbnb has been a global leader in travel accommodations with its innovative peer-to-peer online marketplace. It is now taking that same people-powered hospitality approach and applying it to travel experiences. The new service gives people a way to make money for sharing their passions and interests with others, and offers travelers the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in their destinations.

Trips launched with around 500 unique experiences in 12 cities worldwide, detailed through insider-curated guidebooks. These experiences come directly from hundreds of thousands of user recommendations on everything from the best bars and restaurants to unique tours and festivals. The service allows for access to insights travelers wouldn’t usually come across in their own trip planning research.

Trips encompasses three key areas — Experiences, Places and Homes. Through the Places feature, it offers meet-ups that allow local businesses to host events for Airbnb guests and locals to meet one another in an effort to encourage more social travel.

“Until now, Airbnb has been about homes,” said Brian Chesky, CEO, Airbnb. “Today, Airbnb is launching Trips, bringing together where you stay, what you do, and the people you meet all in one place. We want to make travel magical again by putting people back at the heart of every trip.”

Trips is the first service launched in a larger plan that will include Airbnb Flights and Services.