Two years ago Airbnb launched its corporate travel offering –Airbnb for Business.
The sharing economy provider said this area of the company is still experiencing strong growth and has outlined an increasing number of developments in the sector such as ‘bizcations’ and 'digital nomadism'.
Airbnb reveals the top 5 business travel trends for 2016:
1. Remote first businesses
With more and more freelancers in the jobs market and new advances in communication technology, there is likely to be a shift towards ‘remote first’ companies over the coming years.
According to a recent study by Upwork, 1 in 3 Americans freelanced last year, and 60 per cent of freelancers say that this is a choice and not a necessity. The latest telecommuting statistics, by Global Workplace Analytics, found that 86 per cent of telecommuters say they are more productive when working remotely.
2. Bizcations
‘Bizcations’ or the opportunity to combine business travel with a holiday, is booming. And the good news for businesses? Bizcations make your employees better at their jobs.
Research by the University of California’s Professor Gregory Hickok has shown that a holiday helps employees to re-focus their minds and return to work with renewed vigour.
Further evidence in support of the value of a bizcation comes with the recent joint study by economists from the University of Warwick and from the Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit in Germany.
Their research found that happiness led to a 12 per cent spike in productivity, while unhappy workers proved 10 per cent less productive.
Airbnb recently shared data that reveals more and more business travellers are using the home-sharing platform to plan and book their own bizcation.
The average length of a business traveller’s stay on Airbnb is twice as long as stays in traditional accommodations, at 6.8 days per trip, indicating a rise in business travellers staying the weekend to mix business with pleasure, and getting to know a new city or neighbourhood they’ve never visited.
Airbnb’s Top Ten Destination cities for British business travellers: |
London |
Paris |
San Francisco |
Dublin |
New York City |
Edinburgh |
Amsterdam |
Berlin |
Bristol |
Barcelona |
Airbnb’s Top Ten Destination countries for British business travellers: |
Great Britain |
US |
France |
Germany |
Italy |
Spain |
Ireland |
Netherlands |
Switzerland |
Canada |
Average length of stay*: | 5.2 nights |
Percentage of bookings that include more than 2 guests: | 30% |
Longest single length of stay: | 183 nights in Spreitenbach |
3. Digital ‘nomadism’
This takes the remote travel trend to another level. The term ‘digital nomad’ is often used to describe backpackers who scrape a modest income together while travelling.
4. Significant rise in business travel spending
GBTA recently predicted business travel spend to advance 5.8 per cent over the next five years reaching $1.6 trillion in 2020 - companies are recognising the value of business travel.
5. Sharing economy on the rise for business travellers
Airbnb claims that Certify, online travel and expense management software solution, has revealed that business travellers are starting to choose Airbnb over hotels at "an increasing rate".
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