A wink or a coincidence? In any case, it's in the context of the We Work Lafayette - the coworking inaugurated in April this year - that the teams Airbnb for Work have arranged a meeting with French travel managers. A few days earlier, the sharing economy made official an agreement with its collaborative work alter ego. Airbnb is now offering business travellers who book accommodation via its business travel platform a free day at a We Work centre. For the time being, the experiment is limited to a few business destinations, mainly in the United States.
This partnership is a good illustration of the importance Airbnb attaches to business travel, which is why the platform's managers decided to organise a conference on the subject. Airbnb for Work meetingthe first of its kind in France. The aim was to spread the word and 'educate' the corporate market, but also to listen to the problems encountered by professional users of the platform, and the obstacles still blocking the most reluctant. From this point of view, the event probably lived up to the expectations of Airbnb executives, some of whom had travelled from the San Francisco headquarters. Indeed, the audience was inquisitive and even pugnacious when it came to discussing the duty of care issues or the city capsThe company's travel policy is now being applied to all of its products and services, requiring offers that do not comply with the company's travel policy to simply fall off the radar.
The Airbnb for Work regulars - a small half of the 70 or so people present - did not necessarily learn much from the presentation of the tool. Nevertheless, a number of avenues for development were discussed on the stage of the We Work auditorium. The project Split Payment was unveiled by Teoman Colakoglu, Head of Business Travel France at Airbnb. This new feature should improve the day-to-day lives of the community's followers. bleisure. It will soon be possible, through a single booking, to break down the expenses chargeable to the company and those borne by the employee who wishes to extend a trip over the weekend. The other lesson concerns business travel agencies. Airbnb is currently associated with three TMCs - American Express GBT, BCD Travel and CWT - through a partnership that basically boils down to reporting. In 2018, the relationship should be strengthened and enable travel agents to make reservations on behalf of travellers.
While it is logically attracted to the business travel sector, Airbnb has no intention of turning its back on its traditional and still largely dominant customer base: leisure travellers. On the contrary, the booking platform even claims to be different - the ergonomics of its tool, among other things - which ultimately enables it to convince holidaymakers to return for their next business trip.
