WeWork and Airbnb Create Revolutionary New Business Collaboration
The unconventional company whose business centres provide beer and Prosecco taps is once again making waves within the start-up scene. Creating an environment for young, zealous and modern entrepreneurs within its centres, it is no surprise that WeWork were eager to support the extremely successful start-up, Airbnb in its latest venture.
The Method behind the Madness
Recognising a gap on the market, Airbnb are reaching out to business travellers. Although the two concepts may not seem immediately connected, in the modern day, business and business travel is constantly evolving.
Life and work in the modern day is very fast pace; ‘the world as your workplace’ is a concept that is rapidly developing. Offering business travellers the opportunity to work within a WeWork centre presents them with a genuine and authentic experience of the local community as well as the benefits of working alongside other people.
Dina Berrada, VP, Product at WeWork said, “The way people work is changing. The way people travel for work is changing. Business travel is becoming less about being a road warrior and more about aligning professional and personal needs.”
Airbnb travellers who opt in to the WeWork collaboration will gain a complimentary first day of access to centres. This will provide customers one free hour of conference room usage and discounted pricing thereafter.
Company Characteristics and the Collaboration
Booking with Airbnb allows clients a choice of holiday rentals, apartment rentals, homestays, hostel beds, or hotel rooms, all easily secured through the simple app or desktop site. The new initiative will allow travellers in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, London and Sydney to work from a WeWork business centre whenever required. These cities will be trialling the scheme from October 5th until at least the end of 2017.
Dina comments, “At WeWork, we put a premium on human connections and the lasting sense of community that those connections can bring. Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences. We hope this partnership builds meaningful connections for our members and their guests and provides them with unique and authentic business travel experiences.”
Keeping up with Modern Trends
Earlier this year, Airbnb tapped into the business market by adding a ‘business travel ready’ section to their search tools. The collaboration allows the company to offer a unique and compelling product. They predict the concept will quadruple the amount of corporate travellers to its site throughout the course of the year.
For WeWork, they will gain access to the Airbnb platform, increasing their audience dramatically. Airbnb will receive 100 million ‘guest arrivals’ this year of which 10% will be business travellers.
The two businesses are financially the biggest and the best at what they do. WeWork is valued at £15.5 billion while Airbnb is worth £23 billion, making this collaboration highly significant for the worlds of both home and desk rentals.
Finally, Dina concludes, “It’s a great privilege to be working with Airbnb and together we hope to have a positive impact on the way we live and work in the future.”