Trend Watch: Innovative Lodging Option Redefines Business Travel

Business travelers now have an alternative to hotel-based lodging: they can enjoy the comforts of home in a privately owned property like an Airbnb for business. Whether they stay in a single room or apartment, or have an entire house to themselves, they’ll live with the amenities they’re used to, like stocked kitchens and laundry machines. This is a new trend in travel that’s bound to make business trips much more interesting for road warriors—or at least shake things up for travel managers.

Airbnb for Business

Since its launch in 2008, community-sourced accommodation company Airbnb has gained enough leisure traveler momentum to find a few niches among business tippers. These include travelers (or groups of travelers) who are:

• Visiting a city with a crowded market and limited hotel supply
• Staying in one spot for an extended visit
• Recently transplanted or newly hired and looking to get an authentic “feel” for their new city’s lifestyle
• Attending an off-site meeting or team-building retreat and want to stay with their coworkers

July 2015 marked a more formal entrance into the corporate travel market with Airbnb for Business, a suite of tools enabling corporations to track and manage employee Airbnb travel and spending. The company is positioning this innovative service as a budget-friendly way for businesses to give their employees a unique, yet “at-home” experience while they’re on the road, while automating tasks for human resources representatives and travel managers who are often encumbered by manual processes. (Learn more in Bloomberg.com’s Airbnb Overhauls Service for Business Travelers.)

The business benefits touted by Airbnb are consistent with industry trends, namely an increased demand for web-based and self-service booking, price and travel expense transparency, and travel management software integration. By offering a central billing system and a dashboard with access to itineraries, financials, and approvals, the solution aims to provide better overall program transparency and more accurate reporting.

Recommendations for Travel Managers

In their 2016 Industry Forecast, travel consulting firm Advito offers valuable insight into Airbnb’s growth and its long-term effect on corporate travel management. Noting that non-hotel accommodation providers like Airbnb will have to continue addressing business travelers’ safety and security concerns, they’re already making their mark. Advito expects the new form of lodging/trip management will spark new strategies from traditional hoteliers who want to compete in the changing market. It will also impact companies’ travel policies as more business travelers and managers explore new ways of working.

To that end, Advito recommends travel managers innovate and optimize their hotel programs by:

• Diversifying the types of properties and rooms they offer to cover all possible traveler needs/situations
• Dynamically managing their programs via real-time performance monitoring tools and other resources that help them understand their employees and spot traveler preferences and spend trends
• Engaging employee travelers by getting them the right information at the right time so they can make informed travel buying decisions and provide actionable feedback

Even if companies are not ready to start using non-hotel accommodation services for their business travellers, taking these actions will help companies take advantage of cost-savings, maintain travel policy compliance, and ensure employee satisfaction. Be sure to stay tuned to this blog to learn more about new developments in the travel industry.