Business Travel: The Promising Yet Untapped Market for Rental Properties?

Traveling for work doesn’t mean sitting in a hotel room. In fact, in recent years, more business travelers are looking to home-sharing services like Airbnb for accommodations while they work.

At BookingTeam.com, we’ve noticed that isn’t slowing down anytime soon. In fact, it’s growing. Airbnb recently announced a new partnership with Concur, the business travel and expense management system for large enterprises. The partnership would mean that Airbnb listings will be showcased on their platform, spearheading Airbnb’s efforts in the corporate travel space.

Airbnb had the foresight to start partnering with Concur as early as 2014, and they have been laying the groundwork for corporate travel with their suite of features designed for work.

However, their new listings agreement takes their partnership to the next level. In a recent report, Airbnb claimed that 15 percent of their current bookings are work-related. With this new partnership, they hope to double that percent by 2020.

Why Are Rentals Gaining Business Traveler Interest?
The gig economy has made it easier than ever for professionals to work from anywhere in the world. Scheduling across multiple time zones only requires some planning and the right technology. Email, video conferencing and cloud-based tools like Slack, Trello and Google Drive have made working out of the office seem routine.

As Airbnb pursues more business travelers, it is important for property managers and owners to consider the possibilities. If you manage properties in urban areas, they could be prime spots for business travelers and perhaps a lucrative revenue stream.

How Can You Attract More Business Travelers?
For the rental industry, business travelers is an untapped but potentially profitable market to explore. However, there are some key tips to remember to gain a competitive edge.

1. Get to know your customer.
Business travelers have specific needs and wants that are going to differ from the “typical” guest. For one, having WiFi isn’t enough to entice them. Guests have to have a fast, reliable Internet connection because they will depend on it to work and communicated.

2. Highlight work spaces.
Make the space as inviting for work travel as you can. This could mean setting up a coffee bar or cafe or having a dedicated home office. Guests are going to be setting up show in your home for work at least part, if not the whole duration of their stay, so focus on making it as comfortable as possible for them.

3. Encourage longer stays.
In general, those traveling for work will often extend their days. Once their business has concluded they may stay a few more days to take in the sights and relax. Longer stays are great for rental properties, and technology has made it simpler for people to work remotely.

4. Prep your listings for work travel.
The way that you communicate your listings and amenities should be different. The description of a listing for a family-geared vacation rental should differ from a listing designed for busy professionals. Of course, be honest about your property and offerings. At this stage, many properties won’t even be considered a “business travel” ready listing on Airbnb unless it meets certain requirements including around-the-clock self-check-in and a laptop-friendly workspace.

If updating all your listings or adjusting other property details sounds exhausting, don’t worry. BookingTeam.com can handle all of that for you and much more with our suite of property management tools and on-demand team.