Airbnb has renewed its commitment to Africa’s tourism industry with USD $500,000 fund targeting non-profit organisations supporting economic empowerment, digital access and sustainability.
“Africa boasts some of the world’s unique, culturally-rich, and experientially diverse destinations and homes in the world. We want to be part of solutions that will help more African families and communities to attract guests from around the world and to share more of what Africa has to offer,” said Velma Corcoran, Regional Lead Middle East, Africa at Airbnb.
The fund is part of a pledge which includes supporting hosts, guests and communities, empowering the next generation of tourism entrepreneurs, and identifying and unlocking tourism opportunities.
In a statement, Airbnb said it will work with partners to produce an Inclusive Tourism Growth White Paper in 2024, aimed at supporting countries in Africa to identify low-hanging fruit and policy solutions to spur inclusive and sustainable tourism across the continent.
Airbnb will also invest in City Portal Roll-out over the next year to at least an additional 10 countries in Africa to share aggregate data on Airbnb activity in their country, which will support destination marketing and planning.
“We will use the lessons and experience we have gained to further support inclusive and sustainable tourism in additional fast-growing African countries such as Kenya, Morocco, Ghana, Mauritius, and Egypt,” Corcoran added.
The pledge follows an Economic Impact Report released last week that showed Airbnb contributed more than R23.5 billion to the South African economy in 2022 – supporting almost 50,000 jobs – more than doubling its contribution to the growth of inclusive tourism since 2019. Airbnb will use the lessons and experience gained in South Africa to support inclusive and sustainable tourism in fast-growing African countries.
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