Domestic travel targeted to boost sector

AS lockdown restrictions are eased to allow more sectors to resume economic activity, global accommodation organisation Airbnb has joined forces with Tourism KwaZuluNatal to promote domestic travel.

Airbnb is updating its platform to help guests rediscover the magic in their own backyards by making it easier to ‘Go near and book local travel’.

This includes updating the Airbnb website and mobile application to highlight nearby getaways.

‘Airbnb has been a catalyst for the growth of entrepreneurial tourism, and this spirit will certainly help with our efforts to inspire travellers to consider our region for their next adventure,’ said Acting CEO of Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, Phindile Makwakwa.

‘The Zulu Kingdom has a distinct fusion of raw natural beauty and cultural diversity and we are proud to be in partnership with Airbnb. The opportunities presented by this collaboration are very exciting,’

The partnership will be based on sharing travel trends and data on how South Africans are planning to travel as the lockdown measures begin to ease.

According to Airbnb, more than 80% of local trips booked on Airbnb in January and February were booked by South Africans.

In 2015, almost 40% of bookings by guests from South Africa were domestic, but this had since risen to nearly 75% of bookings last year.

‘Airbnb is uniquely positioned to support the country and help communities and businesses recover through domestic travel.

‘We know that South Africans love to travel locally and it will be central to the recovery of tourism in the region,’ said Country Manager for South Africa at Airbnb, Velma Corcoran.

MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, said they expected a revenue loss of R4.5-billion.

‘This is based on the projection for the period between April and September.

‘Domestic performance in the last quarter of 2020 (October-December) will obviously not be the same as in 2019. The estimated 50% decline for this period would mean a loss of revenue in the order of

R1, 25-billion and 1 million domestic trips,’ she said.