Airbnb targets business travel bookings

The room sharing site has partnered with travel management firm AirPlus to develop a system to streamline the booking and payment of business travel.

According to their announcement, the new platform will allow users to automatically bill a corporate account directly from the site, without needing to file expenses.

Companies will have access to data on the cost, project and employee number behind the booking when the tool launches in the next year.

"More and more business travelers wish to make use of the flexibility that the sharing economy offers,” said Patrick W. Diemer, managing director of AirPlus.

“At the same time, travel managers wish to track compliance and costs. Together with Airbnb, we are pleased to combine flexible booking, automated payment and billing as well as transparent cost management into a single solution.”

Lex Bayer, of Airbnb for Business, said the tool would make it ‘more convenient’ for travellers to use Airbnb for work trips

"Airbnb for Business makes it possible to travel for work without having to miss out on the comforts of home, and providing additional payment options will help us better support the growing popularity of Airbnb with both the corporate traveler and travel manager,” said Bayer.

According to data from travel management firm Concur, the value of corporate spending on Airbnb has risen 42 per cent in 2015-16. 

Companies from over 150 countries are signed up Airbnb’s Business programme, which can be translated in to 26 languages.

STR Global estimates that over 25,000 London listings are featured on the site, 52 per cent of which are entire homes.