At least with GBT, the hospitality industry will be able to gauge the effect fairly soon.

GBT and its customers will be able to start booking directly on Airbnb.com fairly soon and in the coming weeks, Airbnb booking information will be integrated into GBT's reporting platform so customers can track travelers' Airbnb bookings.

“Business travelers want the freedom to choose accommodation that aligns with their personal and professional tastes,” said Wes Bergstrom, GBT's Vice President of Global Supplier Relations in a prepared statement.

“At the same time, traveler safety and security are a top priority for companies. As the first travel management company to partner with Airbnb, our customers can evolve their travel policies to offer travelers the ability to book preferred accommodation.”

Travel safety and security was a point that Morgan Stanley highlighted as a disadvantage for Airbnb as it tries to make inroads in corporate travel, so it is not surprising the TMCs referenced it as well.

"The sharing economy offers new, innovative travel options for business travelers," said BCD Travel's vice president of Corporate Intelligence, Product Planning & Portfolio Management Torsten Kriedt in a statement. "However, in the event of a crisis, it's a company's legal and moral responsibility to ensure employees are safe no matter where they are."

Bad Timing

Airbnb's push into corporate travel does not come at the best time for the hotel industry as global and domestic economic trends are starting to affect hotels.

For example, the Annapolis, MD-based Chesapeake Lodging Trust just reported in its preliminary Q2 earnings that its portfolio's pro forma RevPAR increased 2.2% for the quarter -- below the outlook provided in April. It was “a result of a slowdown in demand from corporate transient customers across our portfolio associated with the generally softening macroeconomic conditions we are seeing in the US and abroad,” CEO James Francis said in a prepared statement.

“We see these headwinds continuing as we start the second half of 2016,” he said.

ANNAPOLIS, MD--Hotels have been watching Airbnb move in on their leisure business with some concern over the years, all the while reassuring themselves that their corporate business -- their major source of revenue -- was safe from the sharing economy.

Yes, Airbnb has launched a business unit and some 50,000 companies have used the platform to make a booking, according to industry stats. But as a Morgan Stanley Global Insight report on Internet, Lodging, Leisure and Hotels published in November 2015 noted, traditional hotels were still safe:

Our survey shows that only 42% of Airbnb users are substituting away from traditional hotels. 36% switch from bed & breakfasts, 31% are using Airbnb rather than staying with friends and family, and ~20% are using Airbnb over vacation rentals. This, combined with the fact that only 7% of Airbnb users stay 1 night (vs 25% for traditional hotels), speaks to how Airbnb (for now) is primarily focused on non-hotel, leisure, longer-duration stays, rather than corporate single-night stays. We believe corporate travel will continue to be more difficult for Airbnb to penetrate given safety and privacy concerns holding back adoption, and the higher importance corporate travelers place on amenities (loyalty programs, business centers, restaurants, etc.).

Three Agreements

But the situation has suddenly pivoted. This week Airbnb announced it has signed agreements with three major travel management companies — American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), BCD Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Soon, Airbnb's 2 million listings in 31 countries will be added to these companies' corporate travel programs.

It is unclear what the impact will be for hotels as this is the first time a major TMC, no less three, has added Airbnb to its corporate offerings.

At least with GBT, the hospitality industry will be able to gauge the effect fairly soon.

GBT and its customers will be able to start booking directly on Airbnb.com fairly soon and in the coming weeks, Airbnb booking information will be integrated into GBT's reporting platform so customers can track travelers' Airbnb bookings.

“Business travelers want the freedom to choose accommodation that aligns with their personal and professional tastes,” said Wes Bergstrom, GBT's Vice President of Global Supplier Relations in a prepared statement.

“At the same time, traveler safety and security are a top priority for companies. As the first travel management company to partner with Airbnb, our customers can evolve their travel policies to offer travelers the ability to book preferred accommodation.”

Travel safety and security was a point that Morgan Stanley highlighted as a disadvantage for Airbnb as it tries to make inroads in corporate travel, so it is not surprising the TMCs referenced it as well.

"The sharing economy offers new, innovative travel options for business travelers," said BCD Travel's vice president of Corporate Intelligence, Product Planning & Portfolio Management Torsten Kriedt in a statement. "However, in the event of a crisis, it's a company's legal and moral responsibility to ensure employees are safe no matter where they are."

Bad Timing

Airbnb's push into corporate travel does not come at the best time for the hotel industry as global and domestic economic trends are starting to affect hotels.

For example, the Annapolis, MD-based Chesapeake Lodging Trust just reported in its preliminary Q2 earnings that its portfolio's pro forma RevPAR increased 2.2% for the quarter -- below the outlook provided in April. It was “a result of a slowdown in demand from corporate transient customers across our portfolio associated with the generally softening macroeconomic conditions we are seeing in the US and abroad,” CEO James Francis said in a prepared statement.

“We see these headwinds continuing as we start the second half of 2016,” he said.