GSAIR 2025 | Page 38

Most corporates continue to resist offering Airbnb and other short term rentals options in travel programmes, primarily because of concerns around traveller safety and policy compliance, but that resistance is being eroded in the same way travellers initially avoided Uber until the technology / app made it easy to book and expense.

“ We make it very clear in our global policy that nobody is to book Airbnb or any short-term rentals property because of issues over contracting, liability, insurance, and security” says BP’ s Richard Eades.

There are exceptions, however.“ Our assignees and hires can stay in whatever they want, Airbnb, hotels, or serviced apartments. up to a nominated amount. It’ s a very, very flexible programme” says Immigration and Global Mobility Lead EMEA & APJ at Databricks.

Some are working with their TMCs to develop bespoke solutions for( transient) serviced apartment bookings but fear they must deliver significant booking volumes to avoid having to pick up the tab for TMCs technology investment.

Travel managers do not understand TMCs’ perceived reluctance to invest in serviced apartment content and bookings functionality within their tech stacks. They do not understand why, if hotels are bookable via Global Distribution Systems( GDS), few serviced apartments are.

They specifically question whether the TMC commercial model, reliant upon overrides, and other supplier incentives, is the cause of this feet-dragging, and want TMCs to be prepared to have a sensible commercial conversation aimed at achieving greater transparency and agreeing who-pays-for-what.

Karen Hutchings believes there will always be companies that embrace short term rentals, and there’ ll be others that will be much more conservative.“ There’ s some demand for Airbnb, mainly from individual entrepreneurs, and younger travellers, but it’ s a hard sell internally because of the safety and security aspects. When Gen Z demands Airbnb, maybe we’ ll see a change of heart. But at the minute there’ s just not the adoption there.”

Although co-living is yet to break through into travel or mobility programmes to any significant extent, the benefits are there. For example, co-living provides a unique housing option that meets the needs of changing population demographics and can play a significant role in reducing loneliness, by improving social cohesion and offering connection with a community. 48

Read New Living Models for a Mobile Workforce on pages 72-76.

Carol Fergus“ wouldn’ t even think about using a TMC for serviced apartments. We’ ve linked our TMC to our online booking tool, so that when someone goes in to book their flights a pop-up will come up will say, if you’ re five days plus, you need to look at the serviced apartment option. Technology and the user experience.”

Travel Management Company or Specialist

There is a perception amongst corporate buyers that operators’ current tech priorities lie in streamlining distribution, channel management, and revenue management to reduce costs and improve margins, rather than on improving the guest experience. 49

This is not the complete picture. While hotels have invested heavily in mobile check-in, digital keys, loyalty apps, and personalised CRM, larger aparthotel chains like Adagio, Staycity, Sonder, and The Ascott are also investing in guest-facing mobile apps, contactless check-in / out and digital concierge, but these are still the exception.

Travel Management Company or Specialist

As some travellers and assignees are entrenched in their preferences for serviced apartments over hotels, and vice versa, corporates are increasingly leveraging specialist serviced apartment providers, often integrated into traditional Travel Management Company( TMC) offerings and online booking tools.

Most serviced apartment providers are smaller operators with limited resources. As a result, user experience( UX)-oriented digital tools are less common and often inconsistent. 50

Wood Plc is working with its TMC, ATPI to integrate serviced apartment content and bookings functionality, and educational information, as Danny Cockton explains.“ If we are to drive more people into serviced apartments, we need to make that content simple to access, book, pay