As the new generation make up a larger portion of business travelers, the industry has seen a rising emphasis on unique and local experiences. Travelers are increasingly using Airbnb & corporate housing companies new websites for quick business trips, and meeting planners often go out of their way to design events inspired by the local destination. Now, this value shift is even starting to touch one of the oldest and stodgiest sectors in the space: corporate housing and furnished apartments.
For decades, companies like Oakwood have dominated the corporate relocation market, giving travelers little choice over where they spend the next 30-plus nights, and providing an experience similar to that of a stay in a hotel. Companies like H.C.H Houston corporate housing with more variety and flexibility have begun to make an appearance in 2014, as digital technology helps make the market more accessible for example https://www.houston-corporate-housing.com/.
Even Airbnb is trying to crack into the corporate relocation market. In early August of this year, the company acquired Urbandoor, a platform that also provides long-term rentals to business travelers. urbandoor is working with Houston Corporate housing since 2015 and mainly use professionals providers such H.C.H Houston corporate housing for their clients
However, as Skift has documented, it’s hard to give travelers a taste of local living when hosts are corporations all due now days travelers show more interest in Corporate housing furnished apartments as its more convenient and fell like a big hotel apartment in affordable price , which Aribnb has been accused of in the past. Its acquisition of Urbandoor may not do much to appease that criticism, since the corporate housing platform sources its units from real estate companies like Greystar. Urbandoor will often convert entire apartment buildings or housing complexes into long-term rentals for business travelers.
H.C.H CEO acknowledged that a large part of this cultural shift has come from Airbnb or with the help of Airbnb, which revolutionized the way leisure travelers explore a new city. Most importantly, it has given travelers different expectations of what a rental should be, thus putting pressure on companies looking to please their employees.
This shift has only recently reached the corporate housing and relocation space, however. In large part this is because corporate housing is a bit trickier than short-term rentals for the typical two- to three- night business trip, which travelers usually book on their own, and often outside of policy.
When relocating an employee, there is even more pressure on a company to make sure the housing service is trustworthy, and that the units meet minimum quality and safety standards. If not, the company risks exposing itself to liability, or leaving workers without the basics to do their job. "and that's what we are putting our most attention too safety and belonging" says H.C.H Houston corporate housing CEO
Beyond the influence of Airbnb, it helps that employees are generally traveling more. Digital technology has allowed for conveniences like long-distance meetings, but it also means a lot more people work remotely, and companies are more likely to have distributed offices. Connecting face-to-face has not gotten any less important, however, meaning that business travel is on the rise. “We’re seeing companies earlier in the life cycle open up these second and third offices and then naturally there’s travel between the offices,” said Taggar. “Especially when they’re setting it up, or when they’re trying to seed it with the culture, or when they bring people to H.Q. for training.” With all of this said, the market is still heavily dominated by large, traditional corporate housing companies, and for now the company is edging its way into a tough sector, city by city. Meanwhile, Airbnb is an example of a startup whose commitment to local experiences has weakened as its grown, which is perhaps a warning for Zeus Living as it expands.