More employers and organizations
are using Airbnb, according to Concur analysis of a subset of its clients. From
the second quarter of 2015 and the second quarter of 2016, the number of companies
for which a traveler expensed an Airbnb lodging increased 32 percent. Airbnb spend
among those companies increased 42 percent year over year during the second
quarter.
Concur based its
figures on clients that haven't experienced major disruptions, such as mergers,
since the third quarter of 2014. Over the eight quarters studied, the companies
spent $77 million on Airbnb for more than 320,000 Airbnb stays.
Among the sectors
readily adopting the use of Airbnb, technology and academia proved the most
prevalent. Eight of the top 20 spenders in Concur's sample from the second
quarter of 2016 were in technology, and six were universities. Concur suggested
that technology companies typically are early adopters of sharing economy
services, while colleges and universities likely turn to Airbnb for cost-efficient
accommodations.
Similarly, small and
midsize enterprises have turned to Airbnb "possibly to suit budget
constraints and needs for more flexible lodging," according to the report.
The amount SME companies spent on Airbnb increased 38 percent year over year
during the second quarter of 2016, and the average SME spend reached $2,808.
Concur executive
vice president of global products Tim MacDonald said major conferences and
events drive organizations to explore alternative accommodations. For example,
spikes in corporate spending on Austin Airbnbs during the first quarters of
2015 and 2016 correspond with the city's annual South by Southwest festival.
Among cities where
Airbnb operates, San Francisco and then London appeared among the top cities for
Airbnb expenses the most consistently. In both markets, hotel rates have been
climbing in recent years and business travelers like to explore local
neighborhoods. Other top-ranking cities included New York, Los Angeles,
Paris, Austin, Seattle, Chicago, Sydney and Washington, D.C.
Concur also tracked the
client sample's expense activity at major hotel chains for the two years. While
business travel spend on major hotels was 250 times greater than spend on Airbnb,
hotel usage grew much slower than Airbnb usage.
Cause & Effect
Airbnb has been
making overtures into the corporate space during recent years. In June, it
opened its business travel platform up to third-party bookings, and in July, it inked deals with the three mega-travel management companies. Yet insight into
whether organizations were actually increasing their use of Airbnb has been
murky. The alternative lodging provider has pegged the number of companies that
use Airbnb's business platform at 50,000.
Concur's analysis
sheds some light on the type of adoption Airbnb has seen as a result of at
least one of its strategic moves. Airbnb launched a travel manager dashboard in
the third quarter of 2015, and for that same quarter, Concur tracked a 110
percent year-over-year leap in Airbnb spend and a 98 percent increase in the
number of organizations using Airbnb. Concur did not release metrics on
activity from the third quarter of 2016, when Airbnb announced partnerships
with Carlson Wagonlit Travel, BCD Travel and American Express Global Business
Travel.