Extended-stay accommodation specialist 3Sixty is pushing further into managed travel, with a platform that brings together millions of options across corporate apartments, aparthotels and hotel partners. As more companies send employees on longer, project-based assignments, the company is positioning its platform to fit alongside traditional hotel programs rather than outside them. 3Sixty president and chief technology officer Robyn Joliat spoke to BTN executive editor Julie Sickel about how the company is working with corporate travel buyers, where it fits into existing booking and servicing workflows, and how demand for longer stays is changing. An edited transcript follows.
BTN: How are you seeing demand from the corporate travel space evolve?
Robyn Joliat: We're definitely seeing more demand. Primarily, corporate housing or extended stay was very much a relocation market. But since 2024, we've seen extended-stay needs for business travel, outside of relocation, increase by 26.5 percent among our customers.
Companies are sending their people to locations for longer than that three-to-seven-night stay—anywhere from 10 or 14 or even up to 30 nights. We're helping companies establish programs in the extended-stay space for travel that might be over 30 days.
BTN: Are you seeing this growth in any specific industries?
Joliat: We're definitely seeing an increase in the tech space. With everything going on around data centers and new development, we're seeing a lot of deployment from travel companies and corporate travel managers in the project space. That extended-stay product becomes more relevant the longer that traveler is in a specific location. Many companies are looking at ways to potentially save money by having kitchens, larger spaces, a workspace within the accommodations—all things that expand past the typical hotel room. But they're still looking for hotel amenities, whether that be meeting space or workout facilities.
BTN: Can you tell me more about 3Sixty's inventory?
Joliat: 3Sixty is a SaaS platform and we really are the curation to all of the product that's out there. To date, we have about 3.4 million [units] in our product inventory across five different product types. We've dabbled in the home space and condos—that's really more for relocation than travel. We have corporate apartments, a variety of aparthotels across the globe, primarily in EMEA and APAC, and then partnerships where we've integrated hotel product through APIs, working directly with partners like Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and HotelBeds. We really have diversified that product, and that's what's helped drive us into more of the travel space.
BTN: You mentioned APIs. How do you integrate with corporate booking tools and the GDS?
Joliat: We don't have a direct connection to the GDS. The GDS is still a very complex beast, and a lot of companies have tried to crack that nut and not necessarily been successful. Our approach is really to educate and allow corporate buyers to understand what we have outside of the GDS and expose them to product they might not see there. Instead, we've created a series of APIs that allow us to push that information directly where [travel managers and TMCs] need it.
BTN: How does the traveler actually book?
Joliat: It really depends on the organization. Our system allows for a self-serve model where the traveler goes direct. Some companies prefer to stay within their own native system, which allows us to create a white label or an API directly back to that system. Others have policies that are a little looser—they don't necessarily need to mandate where travelers go, but they want governance and compliance. We'll work with corporates to set budgets and … business rules, which allows us to set rules around length of stay and product type. We do have an instant book feature, though it's not across the entire product offering. It depends on the sophistication of the supplier and how much product they have at any given location. We do find in EMEA and APAC there is much more availability for instant book than in the U.S.
BTN: Are you seeing the U.S. market catch up to Europe and APAC in terms of corporate housing?
Joliat: I do feel like it is changing. The movement toward platforms and an aggregate model is expanding how corporate housing owners—both regionally and locally—think. They're seeing the value in platforms to open up revenue streams they haven't seen before. In the U.S., they're getting out of the relocation bucket and thinking more about travel and project business. Re-lo isn't booming like it has in years past—it's been very inconsistent for the last several years. So to keep their businesses vital and continue to drive new revenues, they have to think differently. They really have no choice.
BTN: You’ve recently introduced AI pricing tools that help travel buyers have confidence in the platform—how does that work?
Joliat: Our market intelligence tools look in real time at the past 60 days of market rates and benchmark suppliers against what the market looks like, flagging them if they're exceeding it. We envision that tool will help travel buyers in compressed markets have true transparency and visibility to what's happening—whether it's for specific events like the World Cup or anything that causes compression. We're also hoping it will help set benchmarks for RFPs so that travel managers can see in real time what market rates look like and what they should be getting for pricing, rather than going through an elaborate process once every one, three or five years.