SHARING economy platform,
Airbnb, plans to establish
a local presence in South
Africa as it looks to build on
the “rapid growth” that has
seen the country become its
largest market on the African
continent.
This was revealed by newly
appointed gm for the Middle
East and Africa, Nicola
D’Elia, who spoke to TNW on
the sidelines of a recent visit
to Johannesburg.
“We will have local
representation such as a
regional marketing manager
based in South Africa
working closely with the
Airbnb community and brand
ambassadors,” Nicola said.
The team will focus on
forging relationships with
the local government as well
as tourism bodies to propel
the reach of the product,
he said. “I think we are in a
unique position to help boost
tourism, both outbound and
inbound, and this shows
in the results.” To date,
Airbnb has enjoyed over
160% outbound travel from
South Africa and over 230%
inbound.
Ceo, Brian Chesky, added
that the African market was
growing faster than the US,
almost doubling every year.
Corporate travel
Brian added that while
corporate travellers did not
make up most of the Airbnb
business, he did predict a
significant growth in this
space. “Corporate travel
currently makes up 10% of
our business and that is
largely because corporate
travel is quite lonely,” says
Brian. “Business travellers
know that if they book an
Airbnb, not only are they
staying with people but they
are getting to enjoy a local
experience while working,
rather than being alone in a
hotel room.”
Last month, Airbnb
announced plans to launch
a new product suite as
part of its Business Travel
program, which aims to make
the platform easier to use
for companies. The suite of
tools will provide visibility into
employee travel itineraries
booked through Airbnb,
financial reporting data and
central billing, to improve the
business travel experience
for travellers and travel
managers.
The website includes
the Activity Tab, which
helps travel managers with
cataloguing current and
upcoming employee trips,
including trip dates, location,
dates booked, trip status,
number of people in each
party and an interactive map.
The Reporting Tab can be
used to collect and manage
booking reports for the entire
organisation and to export
data and reports, while the
Employees Tab manages
approved and pending
employees who have been
permitted to book business
travel using Airbnb.
