Airbnb is on the move, as the platform sets its sights on the business travel market with its accommodation offer for pro travelers!
Private-to-private vacation rentals are taking a new turn with Airbnb, which has been interested in business travel for several years now. Indeed, in 2015, the American platform launched a « For business travel » or pro travel offer, also known as the Airbnb for Work program, which is enjoying significant success. How can you too appear in the « For pro travel » search? Here’s the complete guide to taking your Airbnb rental to the next level.
Airbnb for Work: An offer that works
According to Capital, 15% of Airbnb stays are now made as business trips. Airbnb’s professional offer now appeals to business customers looking for authenticity and proximity, warmth and simplicity far from the coldness of hotels. And this trend continues to grow, with the platform’s Airbnb for Work portal offering an ever-expanding range of accommodations offering impeccable quality of service.
These include 24-hour customer service, high-speed Internet access via a WiFi terminal. Or access to personal body care products on arrival. Logically, business customers are increasingly interested in a sector that not only saves them time, but also money.
Airbnb’s success for pro travelers is attracting employees from world-renowned companies. These include Google, Morgan Stanley, PayPal and BlaBlaCar. In total, 350,000 companies worldwide use Airbnb’s Pro offer, which is growing at a rate of 3.5% a year. How can you get your share of the money? How can you make your apartment appear in the search for pro travelers?
Be part of the pro
First of all, of course, you need to publish your ad on the platform. As Airbnb rightly points out in the preamble, your accommodation will automatically be added to the Pro Travel collection if it meets a certain number of criteria. In short, all you have to do is arrange your accommodation in a certain way, and Airbnb will automatically include it in the pro section. What are these criteria?
1. Housing type
Airbnb has deliberately restricted its business travel offer to a specific type of accommodation that it believes is suited to the needs of its VIP travelers. For example, only entire homes or private rooms with private/attached bathrooms are considered. Only houses, apartments, bungalows, cabins, chalets, townhouses, villas, guest houses, lofts, apartments in residences and bed & breakfasts are eligible.
2. The equipment
The rental property you offer for seasonal use on Airbnb must embark a certain number of basic amenities. These include :
- Toilet paper
- Soap + shampoo
- Household linen
- Sheets + pillow
- Towel
- Wi-Fi connection
- Autonomous arrival in the home
- Dedicated space for computer work
- Iron
- Hangers
- Hair dryer
3. Response rate + cancellations
In addition to the above-mentioned accommodation type and basic amenities, to appear in the Voyageurs pro search, Airbnb requires that your listing maintain an overall rating of at least 4.8/5 over the last 365 days. All this with a minimum of 5 comments left by travelers and an average arrival rating of at least 4.8/5.
And that’s not all, since your ad must have at least a 90% response rate to booking requests within 24 hours of booking. Finally, the offer must have flexible or moderate cancellation conditions. In short, you need to be in possession of Super Host status.
When you’re there, you’ve got to earn your keep
Airbnb attaches a certain importance to its pro offer. It is likely to generate up to $1 billion in sales per year worldwide. As a result, the company must maintain impeccable quality standards. Which explains why, once you’ve achieved pro status, they implicitly ask you to maintain your efforts to keep it.
What’s more, while you’re acquiring this pro status it’s always possible to track your membership process via the progress panel on Airbnb.