Airbnb's second wave is going to come from business travel
In its Global Cities 2016 report Knight Frank says short-term work assignments are forecast to grow to over 20% of all international relocations by 2017, while long-term assignments are expected to fall from 52% to 45% over the same period.
Here's Tom Bill, head of London residential research at Knight Frank:
First, companies have become more cost conscious after the financial crisis and are curbing the expense and altering the nature of overseas assignments. Second, there is a new generation of younger employees used to more flexible business and leisure travel, which is encouraging companies to deploy people around the world for shorter periods.
But the number of short term rental properties globally is failing to keep pace with the growth in short-term assignments. As a result Knight Frank is advising clients to pile into short-term rental property investment.
Here's Bill again:
For investors and landlords, there are clear long-term rewards in the world of short-term rental accommodation. Cities that embrace the flexibility of models like serviced apartments will reap the economic rewards.
The obvious winners from all of this are businesses like Airbnb that specialise in short-term rental, whether it be for holiday or work. If more people are looking for a place to stay for a few weeks and supply is short, marketplaces like Airbnb could be their best bet and that means more business.
Business travel currently accounts for 10% of Airbnb's bookings but its something the company is trying to grow, according to Knight Frank. The Knight Frank report quotes Airbnb's UK and Ireland country manager James McClure as saying:
We are seeing a huge rise in business travel. Travellers and employers have long been asking Airbnb to help make it easier to incorporate Airbnb into their travel policies.
Airbnb launched a business booking service last year and use of Airbnb for business travel increased 143% just during the first half of 2015, according to expense management app Centrify.