Airbnb may have started as a lodging company, but it is increasingly exploring ways to generate revenues by marketing spaces and “experiences” that don’t necessarily require a trip.

The company announced this week that it is expanding its Airbnb for Work offerings to include bookings of Airbnb Experiences for team-building activities, rental of homes or other spaces for corporate off-site events and meetings, and bookings of homes as temporary housing for employees who have relocated.

“Airbnb group experiences – from sailing lessons to pastry-making classes with a Michelin chef – help teams bond and form meaningful connections,” the company said in an announcement of the new enhancements to Airbnb for Work.

“These newly-featured experiences for professionals are currently available in more than 800 markets around the world in a number of categories, including wellness, team-building, and social impact.”

Using unique Airbnb homes for events can increase employee engagement and creativity, Airbnb said. “These are homes where hosts indicate their unique spaces are suitable for events, and many have work-friendly amenities like wifi, self check-in, etc,” the company noted.

“Offering unique ways to travel for work will remain core to Airbnb for Work, but we estimate only 25 per cent of employees within a company travel for work,” according to Airbnb.

“With Airbnb for Work’s new expansion into team-building experiences, homes for offsites and meetings, and relocations, we now have an opportunity to bring the magic of Airbnb to the rest of the workforce.”

Airbnb recently released figures for its growing Airbnb for Work sector, showing that the number of business trips using the home-share accommodation service tripled in the last year.

airbnbforwork.com