South African hosts listed on home-sharing platform Airbnb earned a total of R2 billion in 2021,as travel and tourism recovered from the economic repercussions of the pandemic lockdown.
This is according to a report compiled by Airbnb, which provides insights on hosts’ earnings and the company’s contribution to the tourism industry in SA and globally, from 1 January to 31 December 2021.
According to the report, as borders re-opened and travel began to return, local hosts listed on Airbnb earned more money than before the lockdown.
The highest earning hosts were those based in Theewaterskloof Municipality in the Western Cape, who earned around 65% more last year, compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic – when travel across the world came to a halt as a result of lockdowns, notes the report.
“In the face of a challenging year for travel in 2021, our community of hosts really rose to the occasion, adapting to the burgeoning domestic travel market, and doubling down on making sure all guests felt happy and safe on their travels,” says Velma Corcoran, region lead for MEA at Airbnb.
“And with borders re-opening and travel back on the agenda for many, looking back at last year proves there is a real opportunity for our hosts to welcome guests into their local communities. With the rising costs of living, the extra income could prove to be a real lifeline for many.”
During SA’s lockdown in 2020, Airbnb had questioned why it was excluded from president Cyril Ramaphosa’s plans to incrementally open travel during advanced level three lockdown.
This, after the local tourism sector was given a lifeline with government unbanning essential international and domestic travel under strict conditions – with the exception of Airbnb.
However, at the end of the same year, the home-sharing platform revealed travel services on Airbnb contributed more than R8 billion to SA’s economy and supported around 22 000 jobs, despite 2020 being a crisis year.
Hosts around the world earned a total of $150 billion since 2010, with hosts based in SA earning almost R12 billion in the same time frame, notes the latest report.
Summer holidays drove huge demand for travel in 2021 and resulted in millions of rands for hosts in SA.
Dates in December make up 100% of the top 10 days – with the biggest host pay-out day being Tuesday, 28 December.
On Christmas Eve, 24 December 2021, South African hosts earned almost R32 million, making this another lucrative day for hosts, it says.
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