Skift Take

Meeting planners often stick with traditional hotel room blocks for event housing, meaning they miss out on all the flexibility offered by Airbnb.

Corporate travelers have been using Airbnb ever since its inception, but over the past couple years the startup has become one of the key players in the business travel space.

For some reason, though, this hasn’t carried over into the world of corporate meetings and events. Airbnb has made attempts to break into the lucrative events industry, but it hasn’t gotten very far. This is surprising considering the inventory of rooms and meeting spaces the company has at its disposal.

We take a look this week at some recent improvements the company has made to its business travel platform, Airbnb for Work, and explore what that means for event planners.

Check out the story below.

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

— Isaac Carey, Travel Reporter

THE FUTURE OF EVENTS AND MEETINGS

Why Is Airbnb Still Missing the Mark With Corporate Event Planners? Airbnb keeps on improving its business travel platform. So when will the events industry finally take advantage of it?

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Skift Global Forum Preview: Publicis Exec Tobaccowala Says Human Connection More Important Than Ever: Experiences are increasingly central to travel. This means travel companies should pay special attention to long-term values like relationships, authenticity, and emotional connection while also not forgetting about the bottom line.

AROUND THE INDUSTRY

Marriott and Emirates Are Latest to Launch Hotel-Airline Loyalty Partnership: It’s now possible to earn bonus points and other perks as an elite Marriott Rewards member flying on Emirates and vice versa. Sure, Emirates may not fly to every destination on the planet, but free points are free points.

Skift Global Forum Preview: Cayuga Integrates Luxury and Sustainability in Central American Indie Hotels: Upscale hotels are embracing environmental awareness these days. But for many hoteliers, it’s crucial not to let their luxury standards slip while skipping the straw.

Skift Global Forum Preview: Hilton’s Tech Innovations Drive Brand Growth: Hilton understands the true conundrum of running a hotel business: Customer preferences will always change faster than the market can react. That is why the company has invested throughout the customer experience, from booking to loyalty partnerships, to keep guests happy.

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Skift Senior Enterprise Editor Andrew Sheivachman [[email protected]] curates the Skift Meetings Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.

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Tags: airbnb, meetings, meetingsiq

Photo credit: Living room of an Airbnb apartment in San Francisco. The homesharing giant has recently made improvements to Airbnb for Business, its business travel platform. Airbnb

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