Freedom To Choose
American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has signed a first-of-its-kind agreement with Airbnb, adding home sharing accommodations to corporate travel programs.
The new referral partnership will make Airbnb for Business more accessible to GBT customers and allow data transfer and traveller tracking.
Since being founded in 2008, Airbnb hosts have welcomed more than 100 million guest arrivals at Airbnb listings worldwide. Approximately 10% of all travellers on Airbnb are business travellers. According to officials, this trend is largely driven by travellers seeking accommodations that allow them to experience cities and neighbourhoods they visit.
During the first phase of the program, once GBT refers a customer to Airbnb, individual travellers can book accommodations directly on Airbnb.com using a corporate email address. In the coming weeks, GBT and Airbnb will integrate Airbnb booking information into GBT’s reporting platform so that GBT customers can easily track their travellers’ Airbnb bookings.
Once that integration is complete, the reservation details for each business trip will automatically be shared with GBT. Travel managers can then access the data through corporate reporting and duty of care platforms. Travellers will then be able to access that booking information through GBT’s corporate reporting and duty of care platforms. Travellers will also have the ability to view their booking details in their regular corporate itineraries and on mobile devices.
“Business travellers want the freedom to choose accommodations that align with their personal and professional tastes,” said Wes Bergstrom, vice-president, Global Supplier Relations, American Express Global Business Travel. “At the same time, traveller safety and security are a top priority for companies. As the first travel management company to partner with Airbnb, our customers can further evolve their travel policies and offer their travellers the ability to book preferred accommodations.”
The first phase of this partnership is expected to go live in the US in the next few weeks and expand to additional countries later this year.
