Airbnb Boosts Business Channel with Acquisition of Urbandoor
Airbnb acquired Urbandoor this week as a platform focused on extended stays for corporate clients
Airbnb is looking to expand its new online inventory of corporate-ready accommodations with new website functionality and the acquisition of Urban Door, a digital business traveler and extended stay solution this week.
Urbandoor, a startup incubated in 2015, brings together accomplished technologists, entrepreneurs, real estate, and hospitality professionals to connect guests with furnished apartment options that meet their needs. The footprint includes apartment communities in more than 1,500 cities in over 60 countries.
“Guests looking to book longer trips – often business travelers or people in the process of relocating – choose to stay in serviced apartments because they offer amenities such as gyms, pools, and concierge services. Bringing more of these places to stay to Airbnb will strengthen Airbnb for Work’s engagement with the more than 500,000 companies who use Airbnb for Work to help manage their business travel,” said Clara Liang, General Manager for Professional Hosting, Airbnb.
Guests let Airbnb know they’re traveling for work by using the work trip toggle, their search results to see listings that are more relevant for business trips. Searchers will see and be able to book work-friendly places to stay, including entire homes, Airbnb Plus homes that are verified for quality and design, and boutique hotels. This new way to find work-friendly places to stay includes those that meet increased quality standards through positive ratings from business travelers, and where hosts have indicated there are smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
The new features — available globally — help travelers find more relevant listings for work trips, and add to existing Airbnb tools tailored to business travelers and travel managers, including centralized billing, notes for expensing purposes.
Airbnb for Work was originally launched as Airbnb for Business. The corporate side of Airbnb accounts for 15 percent of all bookings on the platform, and has seen a marked grown since 2015 to three times the volume. The company claims that more than 500,000 companies around the world use Airbnb for Work to help manage their business travel.
