Businesses around the world flock to Airbnb's new travel programme

Airbnb has had more than 500 companies sign-up to its new business programme within 24 hours of the launch.

Overall, Airbnb for Business now has more than one thousand businesses from over 35 countries around the world formally making the new global management suite part of their corporate travel routine.

Among this roster are Fortune 1000 companies, including Google, who are allowing employees to benefit from Airbnb's wide range of accommodations available in more than 190 countries.

According to Airbnb, the programme allows businesses of all sizes cater to their employees' diverse travel needs, allowing them to sign into the site and have access to a range of features.

The programme allows business travellers to directly book Airbnb accommodations and automatically expense them back to their employers.

The suite of tools provides visibility into employee travel itineraries booked through Airbnb, financial reporting data, and central billing to improve the business travel experience for travellers and travel managers.

The streamlined and integrated payment system allows small businesses in particular a way to offer a wider array of accommodations for their employees' business travel and receive reporting on employee spend.

Jeff Mannie, Box VP, controller and CAO, says, "We were particularly impressed that Airbnb's new Business Travel product suite allows you to uncover unique locations for temporary housing, team offsites and conventions where there is an opportunity to build closer working relationships by sharing accommodations in a casual and friendly environment.

"Like Box, Airbnb is making it easier for business users on the go and we're looking forward to trying out the product and expanding our relationship."

"The corporate community's response to our Business Travel programme has been staggering and confirms our findings that business travellers increasingly want to redefine the business trip," says Marc McCabe, Airbnb Business Travel lead.

"The average business travel stay on Airbnb is 6.8 days, which shows how customers are looking for a mix of business and leisure, and often adding a weekend to explore a new destination," he says.