BridgeStreet has added inventory categories to the online travel agency-like platform for corporate housing and extended-stay accommodations it launched in early 2017. The platform, targeted at corporate travel programs, now offers six product categories: extended-stay hotels, hotels, furnished homes, urban or resort vacation rentals, serviced apartments and design-led hostels.
BridgeStreet president and CEO Sean Worker said the decision to expand the content available on its platform came from existing clients, who want their travelers to be able to choose from a wide range of trusted accommodation experiences at different quality and price points.
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While many corporates may already be used to including corporate housing or even vacation rentals in their accommodation options for travelers, hostels are a rarer lodging category in this space. "The world of hostels has changed dramatically since back in the days when I went backpacking around Europe," Worker said. "When you look at products like Meininger or Generator, these are world-class hospitality experiences." Worker said BridgeStreet tested the use of design-led hostels with some of their clients that were looking for an Airbnb-like experience but with the duty of care provided by BridgeStreet. "The experience and the feedback was very positive, and so we've extended that now into a product line," Worker said.
As for Airbnb content, Worker said that won’t be part of the platform. Instead, BridgeStreet now only works with businesses offering vetted, branded lodging products that have some kind of relationship with TripAdvisor or another trusted source of third-party validation of the user experience.
Worker said BridgeStreet serves as a single source to access content that spans more than 22,600 cities in over 130 countries. Bridgestreet offers customer support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. "The experience that a customer will enjoy through our platform is guaranteed by BridgeStreet," he said.
BridgeStreet offers corporate clients a customized booking portal for travelers. "That has all of their travel policy and service level agreements that are appropriate to them embedded in that tool," Worker said. "This goes back to privacy. It goes back to security and goes back to trust that we actually build those for each company." BridgeStreet also can integrate with online booking tools and offers an open application programming interface.
The Growth of SME Customers
Worker said corporates within the small to midsize enterprise segment have formed a strong user base for BridgeStreet since it launched in 2017. "What we're finding is that we broadened [BridgeStreet] out to a much wider group of customers, and those profiles are across multiple verticals," Worker said. "It's broadened the types of businesses we now work with, and it's satisfying a customer base that is underserved."
He said the SME market is underserved in terms of travel technology, data services and the ability to curate and access content quickly to improve traveler experiences. "They've got their financial director saying, 'Spend less and do it quickly,' so we're solving for that problem."
Other lodging providers also are looking to grow in the SME market. Hyatt in May launched an SME discount program called Hyatt Leverage and IHG in August launched B2B SME program Business Edge.