Airbnb incorporates business travel search tool
Airbnb plans to introduce a search tool designed for business travelers. The feature will allow professionals to filter homes and apartments that Airbnb has deemed Business Travel Ready.
To qualify for a BTR listing, as the company calls it, the dwelling must have a desk, Wi-Fi, self-check-in through a doorman or digital lock and various amenities you’d expect at a hotel, like free shampoo, a hairdryer and iron.
According to Airbnb, 90 percent of its customers are vacationers. There were 250 companies signed up with Airbnb to book and manage business travel in 2015. Last year, the number of people using the site for business purposes tripled and is expected to quadruple this year. There are now more than 250,000 companies using it, including Alphabet Inc., Domino’s Pizza Inc. and Morgan Stanley.
Airbnb closed a funding round last month that valued the business at about $31 billion. This makes it more valuable than Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Wyndham Worldwide Corp.
