Could business travellers boost revenue?

The business travel has evolved in the last few years with companies choosing to use services such as Airbnb and HomeAway to book business trips with. Work patterns have changed and  some business travellers like to extend business stays to include time to explore the location they are based.

Are any of your vacation rental properties in urban areas or near an airport? If so you could be missing out on added revenue from businesses and business travellers. Here’s a summary of the benefits of the business travel market and improvements you would need to make.

Why do businesses choose Vacation Rentals?

One of the biggest advantages of a holiday rental over a hotel room is the home from home feeling and the space a property can provide. Business travellers who are away for more than a couple of nights are more likely to appreciate the flexibility to cook during their stay. The cooking space additionally adds a space in which they can entertain colleagues with out using up there travel allowance.

What are the benefits of the business traveller?

If you have properties which struggle with low occupancy out of holiday season it could be worth considering business travellers. Businesses look all year round for accommodation to stay in on work trips which are not determined by seasons. This can provide a regular income for your properties in locations which are desirable to companies.

On average business travellers will stay longer than tourists. The lengths of business trips can vary and typically most like to extend their stay to include sightseeing. This trend is known as bleisure or bizcation, on occasion these trips can include taking family members on these trips.

Spend by business travellers can be higher with convince being an essential to there trip. You could provide a number of holiday extras which could increase your revenue on a booking. If your reputation in the business industry increase this can see a long term benefit of a regular income to the property.

What extras should you include for a business traveller?

Before attracting business travellers to your properties there are some holiday extras which would help convert these guest to book.

– A free wifi internet connection for them to use
– Good transport links to the business park or airport they need to get too
– Parking for them to use if they have their own car
– Shop in advance service offering to get in some basics for them to use
– Laundry facilitates
– Towels, bedding and few miniature toiletries in the bathroom.

Other extras could be a regular housekeeper to help keep the property in a clean state for them. A concierge service has been mentioned in our research on business travellers. This would be to book restaurants or things to do in the local area, but it would’t have to be 24/7.

A vacation rental offers a lot of space for business travellers to divide up, an area or room in the property which had a desk would be a welcomed extra. Within the property if the office area had extras such as a printer, telephone or other office equipment. The extras would allow for the worker to comfortably work from the accommodation space in the evening.

Where do I advertise my properties to business travellers?

Businesses are always on the look out for reliable accommodation for their workers and you might not to change where you currently advertise. Booking.com and Airbnb are just some of the channels where they have a dedicated business ready listing options.

If you don’t want to pay to advertise this new service on channel websites you could try advertising to business professional on LinkedIn. It would be an easy way to test the target audience and the extras for business clientele.

Are you looking for more information around business travellers or what iPro offers your vacation rental business? Call us on +44 (0)1380 819474 or book a demo today!