Airbnb continues to tap into the meetings industry by making event management company, Experient, a global meeting planning and event management company, its latest partner. The community-driven hospitality community will now offer Experient clients the option to include Airbnb as an option for hosting meeting attendees.
Experient plans to use Airbnb as a housing alternative, especially in cities such as San Francisco where the hotel demand often exceeds the supply. The partnership will provide a solution for groups to keep registration open and provide lodging options, while continuing to honor and protect contract blocks, says Michael Guerriero, division president of Experient. Groups looking for a more localized stay will also appreciate the idea of staying in a local’s home.
“Airbnb’s mission is to help people feel like they can belong anywhere—whether in town for a convention or for a leisure trip, Airbnb will help people live like a local,” says Michael Brous, senior business development lead for Airbnb. “We are excited for the opportunity to help Experient expand their service offerings by providing more choices through our dedicated business booking platform.”
This partnership comes about a month after Airbnb debuted its Airbnb for Business program, which allows business travelers to directly book Airbnb accommodations and automatically expense the cost back to their employers. The business travel program also gives meeting planners the the ability to see employee travel itineraries, financial reporting data and centralized billing. Within 24 hours of the program’s launch, 500 new companies had signed up. There are now more than 1,000 businesses in more than 35 countries that have made Airbnb part of their corporate travel program.
