GSAIR 2023 28
Alternative models
By Mark Harris Contributing Editor
Corporate usage of , and further interest in , alternative accommodation models such as Home Stay and Coliving are growing as corporates evaluate the potential cost savings and traveller preferences .
As Fig . 12 shows , half of corporates now permit their travellers to stay in Home Stay and Co-living products . 62.5 % are considering using or increasing their current use of Home Stay products and 25 % are considering using Co-living products .
Of those corporates whose travellers would use these products , 21.43 % say that up to a third of their travellers would be receptive .
As yet , there ’ s no evidence of Build-to-rent ( BTR ) gaining traction amongst corporates , mainly because the global mobility community isn ’ t aware of the distinction between BTR and standard long lets .
We believe that the lines between BTR and other , historically long stay products , will become more blurred . It ’ s possible that we may see this style of product transition to a model that can be consumed by short term and temporary living operators and travellers .
Half of agents who took part in our survey confirm their clients are booking more Home Stay and Co-living products . By contrast , in 2022 , whilst a broadly similar ( 52.63 %) proportion of corporates were already using Home Stay , 21.05 % did not permit their use , suggesting travel managers are seriously considering adoption .
Travellers ’ willingness to stay in a Co-living space with shared communal facilities follows a similar pattern to their employers , as Fig . 13 shows . Half of business travellers would consider a Co-living space with shared facilities . These come predominantly from the engineering , professional services , and technology sectors .
Barriers to adoption
Alternative accommodation models are not an option all corporates are willing to permit in their travel or mobility programmes .
The travel manager for a global entertainment group has seen some employees stay in Airbnb but says , “ it ’ s very much been on a ‘ we don ’ t advise this so on your head be it ’ basis .”
“ That could change when a millennial becomes president of the company , but I don ’ t see that changing in the foreseeable future while there are reasonably priced products like aparthotels .”
“ Culturally , we don ’ t want a ‘ big brother is watching ’ scenario ” says bp ’ s Richard Eades , “ but we don ’ t permit Airbnb or other alternatives to be used , anywhere in the world . We analyse our payment card data and block this type of property distributor . The booker is then contacted by security and referred to our Global Policy .”
All bp ’ s Global Travel & Meetings data is fed into Group Security for incident management and duty of care . “ Our travel dashboard area , where people go to for related information is very clear on this , although you can ’ t just say ‘ don ’ t do that ’. You have to provide simple to comprehend and bookable alternative solutions ” explains Richard .
Change is happening
Against the cautious approach being adopted by many corporates , Home Stay providers report seeing increases of up to 25 % in business travel bookings since the pandemic ended , coming through a combination of channels , from direct to OTAs and TMCs . 14
Meanwhile , for digital nomads , Co-living offers the perfect mix of independence and community .
For travel managers , despite the duty of care risks , the Home Stay format offers potential cost savings , so it would be surprising not to see adoption of both formats increase in the year ahead .
14 . STAA – A New Alternative - https :// ukstaa . org / business-travel-white-paper /