Airbnb Debuts Work Travel Search Tools

While Airbnb currently offers thousands of listings geared toward business travelers, the online hospitality platform is now making those easier to find through new search capabilities for work trips. The move comes as more businesses are turning to Airbnb for Work to put together business trips, according to reports.

Through Airbnb’s work trip toggle, users can personalize their search results for business travel while filtering out vacation homes and less convenient offerings. The platform relies partially on social recommendations to ensure that Airbnb Plus homes, entire homes and boutique hotels – as well as properties with positive ratings from corporate travelers – are shown.

Since rolling out in 2014, Airbnb for Work has reportedly become a large portion of its overall bookings. The company has also grown its work arm to include Airbnb Experiences. As it stands, half a million companies are said to be tapping into Airbnb for Work to help with business travel management.

In separate Airbnb news, the platform recently unveiled its Luxe offering to bolster its luxury travel efforts. The home-sharing company sends out inspectors to determine whether homes meet criteria such as high-quality furniture and chef-grade appliances.

Airbnb’s Global Marketing Director for Luxury Eshan Ponnadurai said, according to past reports, “The last couple of years, we’ve been focused on how do we create an Airbnb for luxury travelers.” He added that the luxury tier moves the company’s goal of “creating an Airbnb for everyone” forward.

Accommodation prices run the gamut from $1,000 to almost $150,000 per night, with an average of roughly $2,000. Luxe is also said to provide guests with an around-the-clock concierge, called a “trip designer,” to help them plan their adventures. Many of the Luxe listings are rural vacation homes, but the platform also has some city listings like a cottage in the vicinity of London’s Kensington Palace.