Understanding How Airbnb Empowers Hosts With New Business Travel Strategy

At the annual Airbnb Open 2015 conference in Paris last week — before the city was thrown into crisis by mass shootings and bombings, and the final day of the event was called off — Airbnb launched its new Business Travel Ready program to help hosts make their properties more attractive to corporate travel managers and employees traveling on business. According to a keynote speech on Friday, business travel is one of three primary growth markets for Airbnb moving forward, along with Chinese travelers on the buyer side, and non-urban destinations on the supply side. Following that, Jonathan Liebtag, business development lead at Airbnb, presented a session about Business Travel Ready, which is still very much in its early development stages. The program builds on the July expansion of the Airbnb For Business corporate travel platform, which now includes an online dashboard featuring central purchasing and billing functionality, employee tracking, and streamlined expense reporting. Leibtag noted that over 30% of hotel bookings are for business travelers — which he said represents a $120 billion market — but only 10% of Airbnb guests are traveling on business. "We’re really excited about business travel and Airbnb," he enthused. "So we think it’s a huge opportunity for the company to reach a new set of travelers." Behind Business Travel Ready Beginning with the host experience, Business Travel Ready is designed to educate Airbnb hosts about the specific requirements that business travelers demand. Once hosts feel they can fulfill those requirements, they can apply for Business Travel Ready designation. Based on Airbnb's research, business travelers need the ability to easily compare listing differentiators within a specific, narrowly defined region, with close proximity to financial districts and public transportation. Fast and consistent Wi-Fi, 24-hour check-in, laptop-friendly workspaces, high levels of cleanliness, and no pets are obviously critical. Corporate travelers expect new shampoo and soap, new irons and ironing boards, high quality hairdryers, and suit hangers, whereas leisure travelers are sometimes less demanding in that regard. There's also the question about how much sharing is too much sharing. Airbnb listings are divided into two categories: "Entire Home/