If you’ve booked a room, apartment, or home through Airbnb for leisure travel and you’re considering how you might use the home-sharing platform for business accommodations, you’ll be happy to know that Airbnb has a new search function/program specifically for business travelers.
Categorized as Business Travel Ready (BTR), available properties must have a designated workspace or desk, wifi, and 24-hour check-in, although many of them often boast other amenities. The search function also highlights entire homes available for short-term use so that teams can share accommodations or individuals can have the entire space to themselves.
In order to access the BTR properties, you must link a work email address to the Airbnb account — so no Gmail, Hotmail, etc. It has to be your work email. You can sign up as a business traveler through airbnb.com/business-travel-ready, and you’re ready to find your next business travel lodging.
An Airbnb house in Santa Barbara, California
While only 10 percent of their bookings are business related, the amount U.S. businesses spent on travel expenses topped $290 billion last year, and was expected to increase by more than four percent last year.
In 2016, the company achieved an industry first when it partnered with American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), BCD Travel, and Carlson Wagonlit Travel to add home-sharing accommodations to its traditional corporate travel offerings.
Have you used Airbnb for business travel? Would you do so now that they have improved their business offerings? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below, on our Facebook page, orin our Twitter stream.