As part of its announcement earlier this week that it had raised an additional $1 billion, Airbnb noted a new focus on the long-term guest. That's already a large part of the bookings for the company's Airbnb for Work business travel arm, the division's global head, David Holyoke, told BTN.
"The majority of [Airbnb for Work] stays are for seven nights or longer, with 28 days or more being a significant percentage," he said. "Monthly makes up a large percentage of that [majority]."
Holyoke described that demand as being project-based work, internships, relocations and training. "These have been solid use cases for us with enterprise customers," he said. "Our team is very focused on the core business travel use case, but business travel is not always the two-night stay that people think of. Extended stay is certainly a space we have been working in quite a bit."
Holyoke added that 80 percent of Airbnb hosts now accept longer-term stays, and about half of Airbnb's active listings provide discounts for stays of one month or longer. "One thing to point out is that the host community is moving more and more in this direction as well, and that will provide a lot more value to guests and professionals specifically," he said.
The company this week announced that one in every seven Airbnb nights booked in 2019 was for a longer-term stay, and the number of listings available for longer-term stays grew 30 percent year over year. Starting Thursday, the front page in most countries will offer a tab titled "Monthly Stays" as an option for guests.
Separately, Airbnb on Thursday also launched about 50 "online experiences" to help people connect during the coronavirus pandemic, offering a "tool for managers to keep their team engaged while working remotely." These range in price from $1 to $40 and include such options as a Turkish coffee and fortune experience, bartending with experts, and cooking with a Moroccan family.
"Engaged employees are the most productive and this creates an opportunity to create work connections," Holyoke said. "Whether a sales team or a creative team, it's a chance to connect and come together in a unique way and strengthen bonds."
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