4 Charts Showing How Uber and Airbnb Are Surging in Business Travel

Business travel is something of an untapped opportunity for many sharing economy travel services, since conservative travel policies often limit their usage.

New information from expense tracking service Certify shows that 2015 was the year that saw a major breakthrough for Uber, Lyft and Airbnb for business travelers. Even Hotel Tonight was a beneficiary of business travel spending.

Here are four charts showing the highlights of Certify’s 2015 Year in Review infographic and the emergence of the sharing economy as an important option for business travelers.

Chart 1: The use of Uber eclipsed car rentals for the first time ever in the fourth quarter of 2015, as a percentage of total rides. Uber’s top competitor Lyft also saw solid growth over the last fiscal year.

Chart 2: Not only are more business travelers using ride sharing services, but they also enjoy using them more than renting a car or taking a cab.

Chart 3: On the roomsharing front, Airbnb has seen increased adoption from both domestic and international business travelers.

Chart 4: The much maligned Hotel Tonight saw an impressive increase in adoption from business travelers in 2015, with spend rising 1,050 percent.