Surge in Airbnb for business trips as travellers prefer flat rentals to hotels
Do business travellers prefer Airbnb? The flat rental site has become a popular lodging option for cheap getaways – but now it seems Airbnb is on the rise for business trips as well.
Rather than using it to source wacky budget holidays – whether you fancy an Alaskan cabin in the woods or a Mongolian yurt – you might use Airbnb to plan your next business trip.
Read more: There's now an Airbnb – for Airbnb
Expense software company Certify has collected data on American business travellers, and found that their stays at Airbnb have more than doubled in just a few months – up 143 per cent since the last quarter.
Interestingly, stays through Airbnb were also more popular than at a traditional hotel, as the average Airbnb user rated their stay higher.
We also tend to stay longer with our Airbnb hosts. On average, flat stays are 3.8 nights, whereas the average hotel stay is just 2.1 nights.
Airbnb has been trying to actively expand to reach business travellers, as the flat rental site launched a separate service for business travel a year ago.
Founded in 2008, the site has become representative of a growing sharing economy, and now has 1m listings in 190 countries around the world.