Denis Opudo
The annual number of guests in Africa has increased by over 5,000% since 2012. The number went up to 1.2 million in 2017. This was a fifth growth in a raw. According to Airbnb, African hosts garnered 4139 million from services in 2017. The active accommodation in Africa went up to 100,000 from 62,000 in 2017. In 2013 the figure was at 6,000.
Africa has covered up only a fraction of the Airbnb’s business. Before 2017, Paris city recorded high listing than the whole of Africa. The lessons learned from various countries help the continent improve in Airbnb listing. South Africa is still the highest in Airbnb listings. The country recorded 651,000 guests since 2010. That is a growth of 143%. There are more than 43,000 active listings in the country by now. There is revenue of $1,900 annually for the typical host. Cape Town stands out to be the most popular destination. This is attributed to the fact that it has beaches and mountains.
The Airbnb has helped South Africans to residents to use well their rooms and properties. According to the director of Superhost South Africa, the initiative started in 2015. Many of the Superhost customers have an annual listing. The clients depend on Schneider’s company. The company handles cleaning, bookings emergencies, and vital exchange. Morocco and Kenya take the second and the third largest Airbnb listing respectively. Morocco has 21,000 while Kenya has 5,900 active listings. This is despite the growth of 325% in Kenya in 2017. Nigeria is fourth with 730 active listings. Nascent market is operational in Senegal, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Swaziland.
Uber, IBM, and Microsoft are coming in courtesy of Airbnb as a long-term investment opportunity. Airbnb signed a partnership agreement in Cape Town in October 2017. The agreement will help it improve its brand of people-people tourism in the City. Airbnb will assist to promote Cape Town to tourists worldwide. In May 2018 the company will work with partners to organize the Africa Travel Summit in Cape Town. The event will focus on sustainable growth in tourism. This will encourage individuals, NGOs and organizations to take Airbnb to their communities.
The company will invest $1 million in community-driven tourism projects across Africa. The company launched its experience service in November 2016. The service gives guests a chance to try out some experiences brought together by some locals. The service will increase the number of people who can get income from Airbnb within Africa. Hosts in Tanzania and Kenya got $2.1 million and $3.9 million in 2017. In Morocco, host earned averagely $1,300 in 2017. There is a high number of female hosts compared to male hosts across Africa.
There is a need for foreign investors in Africa. Airbnb allows people to take part in local tourism. Both the middle class and lower Africans can get foreign currencies into their pockets. The average age of guests in the continent is 37 years. There is the younger population in the tourism adventure than the older generation. The international travelers are not sure of getting appealing hotels in Africa. Airbnb is the only solution in the market without a significant hotel present. This is according to the managing director of the Hospitality Group in Lagos.
However, there is a need for regulation of the company. This is after an outcry by some of the hotels in Africa. Remember that the company had come at a time when many hotels used to enjoy the high demand periods. That has made the hotels not to enjoy high revenues compared to the past. According to Scheider, new hotels are coming up. The hotels tend to offer self-catering and studio apartments. This is to try to outplay Airbnb. The coming of Airbnb into the African market has led to a reduction in the pricing of properties. The locals have suffered to due to that.
