The growing Airbnb effect – Qantas Group aligns with Airbnb. First Qantas, now Jetstar.

Whether the hotel industry likes it or not, it seems - at the moment anyway - Airbnb is here to stay. According to the organisation, growth is happening quickly and expansion even faster, with accommodation existing in more than 65,000 cities and 191 countries. It is evident that as they grow, there is continual pressure to find new markets and more opportunity.

In late Mar-2017, Jetstar announced it was partnering with Airbnb to allow customers to book Airbnb accommodation via the Jetstar website. The airline has even gone as far as to offer an airline voucher to passengers who book accommodation above AUD250.

Jetstar has become the fourth airline partner globally for Airbnb, who have recently had agreements with Virgin America, Delta Airways and Qantas (Jetstar's parent airline). It seems the partnership with Qantas has allowed Jetstar to get involved and officially be the only Low Cost Carrier with ties to Airbnb. The difference with the Jetstar agreement is rather than earning frequent flyer points, as it is with all other partners, Jetstar customers who book through the website will receive an AUD25 voucher for flights via email, after the stay.

Airline partnerships seem a logical move for the accommodation provider as it allows easy access into a market of travellers at the time of booking flights.

According to a Jetstar press release, a survey of over 1000 people conducted by Galaxy Research in Feb-2017 found that 91% of people are considering booking a homestay accommodation (conveniently exactly what Airbnb offers) for their next extended family holiday. There were some other statistics about missing home comforts and wanting to bring grandparents along, which luckily for Jetstar and Airbnb, all mean that consumers would be interested in using both organisations' services.

Airbnb seems to be throwing its weight around, pulling in partnerships from a variety of industries. According to Airbnb, in the first six months of launching 'Airbnb for Business', more than 50,000 employees of more than 5,000 businesses completed bookings. This was an opportunity the organisation jumped on in 2016, with key corporate travel agents such as BCD Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Airbnb was able to integrate data solutions for business travel with BCD Travel, providing customers with data based on security and risk management. They also released key findings in conjunction with CWT Solutions about the business traveller by analysing trends.