Airbnb making serious push to contend in business-travel market, reports 700% growth in a year

Airbnb is in the midst of transitioning from the go-to spot to rent a stylish private flat in a super authentic neighborhood to a legitimate business travel accommodation platform. For years, your dinner party guests might have been explaining that their extra bedroom with its own private entrance attracted a different kind of traveler, not just a suit in town for a weekend conference. But now Airbnb has announced that those suits are also booking with the site in record numbers.

Airbnb's Business Travel program made news earlier in the month after the announcement of a dedicated sub-site specifically for business travelers. Details were scarce, but Airbnb suggested that any amenity found in business class hotel rooms would be mandatory for a listing to meet the criteria for eligibility. Coffee, an ironing board and hairdryer would be a must, along with dependable Wi-Fi access - which is still somehow not a certainty in all hotels.

Airbnb this week threw another log on the fire as the program came out of beta, namedropping recent corporate clients who have joined the Business Travel program. Google, TBWA, Twilio, and SoundCloud are among the 250 companies that have added Airbnb lodging options for employees on business travel.

Google Global Travel Manager Darragh Ormsby said,

“Our employees worldwide appreciate the choice and flexibility that Airbnb listings provide them when they’re on the road — whether for conferences, meetings, or team offsites. It's great that Googlers can easily access Airbnb's wide range of accommodations as they make their travel plans.”

Airbnb is also boasting 700% growth in business-travel bookings through the site in the past year alone, many of which occurred prior to the site's recent focus on acquiring these sorts of transactions. The suite of tools accessible to employees and managers tasked with approving travel options is striking a chord with the movers and shakers in corporate travel planning.

Companies who join the site's Business Travel program before September 1 will score a $50 credit toward the first booking for each employee who uses the site, a strong incentive to give the new bells and whistles a toot.