Treating Business Travelers Like Real People

As an early adopter of using Airbnb for business travel, I am intimately acquainted with the highs and lows of choosing to stay in someone’s apartment instead of a boring big box hotel.

For each positive experience of staying for cheap in a swanky downtown penthouse, I’ve had other trips marred by humid apartments that smell like diapers and hosts who have somehow forgotten the code to their own key-holding lockbox when I arrive after a delay at 11 p.m.

(“You know, you can stay in a hotel,” said my boss at one point. I do, sometimes.)

While Airbnb isn’t in complete control of the quality of its listings, it is in control of its platform for business travelers and travel managers. Over the last two years, the company’s platform for business travel has brought in thousands of risk-averse companies and, this week, expanded to allow travelers to book experiences and diverse offsite venues. People want to maintain their normal lifestyle when they travel for work, and Airbnb is creating more ways for them to do so.

This week I bring you a long interview with David Holyoke, global head of Airbnb for Work, about how the platform has evolved alongside traveler needs. I also take a look at what the latest news from the company means for both business travelers and those planning travel for others.

If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet me @sheivach.

— Andrew Sheivachman, Business Travel Editor

Airlines, Hotels, and Innovation

How Homesharing Hit the Corporate Travel Mainstream: Now that Airbnb has integrated its own Experiences product into its business travel platform, it seems like only a matter of time until more options and add-ons are added to the stable.

Airbnb for Work Brings Meeting Spaces and Experiences to Business Travelers: Airbnb is going to integrate Airbnb Experiences and curated lists of meeting-appropriate homes into its booking tool. Initial feedback has been strong, so it’s probably only a matter of time until Airbnb builds partnerships in other areas.

A Rise in Peak Occupancy Nights This Year Is Helping Hotels: More high-demand nights means more business, and more expensive business travel rates, but can the trend continue?

Travel CEOs Lay Out Concerns to Trump During First White House Meeting: The White House’s Roosevelt Room was filled with some of the U.S. travel industry’s most powerful leaders on Tuesday. We’ll be watching to see if that meeting actually produces any powerful results, and whether it helps get President Trump on the travel industry’s side.

Why Airlines Should Be More Creative as They Weigh Fee Increases: Airlines need to increase revenue. We get that. But can’t they be smarter about how they assess fees?

The Future of Travel

India’s Outbound Tourism Spending Is Expected to Grow Rapidly: The India outbound market is already huge and doesn’t show any signs of slowing its growth. It’s about time the global travel industry started paying attention if companies hope to capture a share of the market.

Why Do National Airlines Still Exist? Many politicians fear their nations will be irrelevant if they abandon their money-losing flag airlines. That’s probably a stretch. In most places, the market likely would fill the gap — provided the government got out of the way. But national pride is powerful, and few people want to see storied brands disappear.

Mobile-First Booking Startup HotelTonight Expands to Desktop: HotelTonight is no longer a mobile-only company. It’s no longer just for same-day stays, as its name once implied. Investors seem to want no potential income left on the table, even if the brand must lose some of its original distinctiveness.

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Skift Business Travel Editor Andrew Sheivachman [[email protected]] curates the Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Thursday.

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