Non-standard accommodations become the next growth point for business travel. What does Airbnb want to do?

Scene Reconstruction

When the sunlight in Barcelona filters through the gaps in the curtains into the room, project manager Zhang Wei is closing his laptop and massaging his slightly sore shoulders.

On the first night of arriving at the destination, standardized hotels often provide enough sense of security; but as the stay lengthens, the “temporary feeling” of the space gradually turns into an invisible drain.

At the 2026 Global Travel Intelligence Digital Forum in Shanghai held on April 2, Airbnb China Growth Director He Changhua delivered a keynote titled “Redefining Business Travel: Unlocking Diverse Possibilities for Outbound New Business Travel,” and engaged in a dialogue with Global Travel Intelligence CEO Li Chao on “The Value-Adding of Non-Standard Accommodation for Corporate Overseas Expansion.”

On the left is Global Travel Intelligence CEO Li Chao; on the right is Airbnb China Growth Director He Changhua.

He Changhua shared a core insight on-site: the evolution of outbound business travel is essentially the deepening of Chinese companies’ globalization. As business trips increasingly penetrate into lifestyles, the business travel market is at a point where it needs to be redesigned.

Five Major Scenarios of China’s “New Business Travel”

“We observe that the booking growth rate of outbound ‘new business travel’ demand on the Airbnb platform has already outpaced the market average, becoming a key variable driving industry growth,” He Changhua first supported with data in his speech.

According to research by the Global Travel Intelligence Institute, over half of outbound business trips have a single stay of 6 days or more, and travelers predict that the frequency of outbound trips will further accelerate in the coming year. This long-cycle, high-frequency change sketches the latest map of Chinese companies going abroad.

Under the demand for “new business travel,” the footprints of Chinese business travelers are becoming increasingly dispersed. Destinations such as Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Bali, and Penang are among the top ten destinations with the fastest growth in “new business travel” bookings in 2025 on the Airbnb platform.

Business travel, along with industry, opportunities, and lifestyles, flows together to form richer “new business travel” scenarios.

He Changhua believes the first typical scenario is “long-term deployment.”

With the acceleration of Chinese companies’ globalization, companies are no longer just “flying over for meetings,” but are dispatching employees for medium- and long-term assignments. Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Tokyo have become the four fastest-growing overseas markets for Chinese companies. The popularity of routes from Shenzhen to the U.S. is significant, showing that tech and manufacturing companies based in Shenzhen are deeply cultivating the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and Los Angeles, connecting Chinese and American tech hubs.

In these scenarios, teams need more than just accommodation—they require a “localized” space that can support both work and daily life.

Closely following is the “short-term exhibition” scenario.

During overseas exhibition trips, a large amount of setup, participation, and business communication is often compressed. Barcelona, the host of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), Osaka, the 2025 World Expo host, and Milan, the Winter Olympics venue, have become popular destinations for the “short-term exhibition” scenario on Airbnb in 2025.

He Changhua specifically mentioned the driving effect of global events, such as during the Paris Olympics, when Paris’s popularity increased fivefold year-over-year, with over 700k people staying in Airbnb, including a large number of “new business travelers.” As a global partner of the Olympics, Airbnb provided numerous listings for the organizing committee, volunteers, and staff, accommodating the surge in accommodation demand during the event, and also offered “travel stipends” for athletes to train elsewhere or reunite with family, meeting their scattered needs. This flexible supply is difficult for traditional hotels to match.

Additionally, with mature remote work technology and cross-border mobility driven by pursuit of cutting-edge education and health resources, people’s lifestyles and work methods are continuously reshaped. The scale of medium- and long-term outbound demand is further rising, giving rise to “new business travel” scenarios such as “digital nomads,” “study tours with accompanying family,” and “family wellness retreats.”

Airbnb data shows Bali and Chiang Mai, leveraging time zone coordination and visa convenience, have become the top choices for Chinese freelancers; Kuala Lumpur and Brisbane attract many study-abroad families due to their educational resources.

He Changhua summarized that when business travel becomes a lifestyle of mobility, it must feature more flexible spatial forms and closer local living experiences.

In Airbnb’s new business travel bookings, trips involving three or more people now account for nearly half. He noticed an interesting phenomenon—“two people booking a five-person room, three people booking a six-person room.” This reflects that companies are no longer just buying physical beds, but spaces capable of supporting team collaboration and comfortable living.

How Non-Standard Accommodation Addresses the “Invisible Pain Points” of Business Travel

In the subsequent dialogue, Li Chao and He Changhua jointly dissected some often-overlooked “hard issues” in business travel.

Li Chao shared an observed case: during overseas exhibitions, many bosses still gather employees who have worked all day at the hotel lobby at 9 p.m. for meetings, and everyone is exhausted.

“But if you stay in an Airbnb, you can easily set up two bottles of red wine in the living room, and everyone can sit in pajamas and chat comfortably.”

He Changhua provided a deep supply-side supplement. He believes that staying in Airbnb listings not only feels more homely, but in many scenarios, it also involves a physical “0 and 1” coverage issue.

For example, many exhibition venues are not in the core business districts, and the surrounding areas lack standardized accommodation. Non-standard accommodation can fill these gaps well, directly affecting the granularity of business development. Meanwhile, within a set of listings, teams can have private spaces and ample communal areas for collaboration. This design greatly enhances productivity during intense business trips.

Details like laundry and cooking sparked strong resonance in the conversation.

Li Chao shared that laundry services at some hotels cost dozens of dollars, and many companies do not reimburse these expenses. For long-term travelers, this is a significant pain point. In contrast, Airbnb properties with washing machines and kitchens allow employees to fry eggs in the morning and wash clothes after work.

He Changhua believes this “home-like” feeling can significantly reduce employees’ psychological adaptation costs abroad. He hopes that outbound business travel can reach this state: even in San Francisco or London, returning to the accommodation after work should feel as natural as being at home, which is key to maintaining the team’s overseas combat effectiveness.

The Business Logic Behind the Data

For corporate finance and travel managers, sentimentality is a plus, but cost and compliance are the bottom line for decision-making.

He Changhua disclosed a set of data on-site:

In 2025’s “new business travel” bookings, over 60% of the average nightly rates are below $100, with per-person per-night costs below $50. For teams requiring multiple people and long stays, this is an extremely optimized cost solution.

The uncertainty of non-standard accommodation has always been a concern in the industry.

Regarding concerns about safety and compliance, He Changhua stated that Airbnb has served over 2 billion guests globally, and safety and trust are the platform’s foundation.

To address screening difficulties, Airbnb launched “Guest Recommendations,” selecting 2 million highly-rated listings worldwide. Data shows that about 40% of business travelers in 2025 actively choose these listings. Meanwhile, the “AirCover Global Worry-Free” protection system covers the entire process from booking to 24-hour safety support, striving to make non-standard accommodation as manageable as hotels.

Currently, Airbnb is connecting services to compensate for the shortcomings of non-standard accommodation. For example, in the U.S., partnering with Instacart to launch fresh grocery delivery; in 125 cities, collaborating with Welcome Pickups to offer “private car transfer” services, creating a seamless experience from landing to check-in.

In He Changhua’s view, the diverse needs carried by the “new business travel” track will bring new growth opportunities for industry partners including Airbnb. He mentioned three major cooperation directions:

(1) Before travel, assist companies with resource integration and flexible capacity allocation;

(2) During travel, provide integrated support such as visas, accommodation, and local services for long-term expatriates and digital nomads;

(3) After travel, conduct authentic local team-building activities through “Airbnb Experiences,” helping employees truly immerse in the city culture.

As Chinese companies extend their reach to every factory and exhibition worldwide, accommodation is no longer just a resting place but a hub connecting local communities and supporting global business mobility.

“New business travel” is no longer just business trips but a lifestyle of mobility. If it becomes a way of life, it deserves to be redesigned—more flexible, closer to real life, and creating better experiences for users.

*Note: The report “Redefining Business Travel: Unlocking Diverse Possibilities for Outbound New Business Travel” was jointly released by Airbnb China and the Global Travel Intelligence Research Institute. The data sources include Airbnb platform data (booking data for long-term outbound stays of 7 nights or more by Chinese users over 24 years old in 2025) and online surveys conducted by the Global Travel Intelligence Institute. The concept of “new business travel” in this report is a broad travel classification based on platform data and market trends, referring to outbound accommodation needs primarily for work, study, family companionship, or personal development, distinct from pure leisure tourism or traditional business trips. The content reflects only Airbnb booking data and travel trends and does not constitute medical, health, immigration, investment, or labor advice. Travelers should understand and comply with the laws and regulations of their destination countries and China before traveling.