Airbnb Africa Academy Fund
Over the last three years, Airbnb has invested in a number of inclusive tourism initiatives to help hosts from under-resourced communities to succeed. We are proud to continue this work by announcing a R1 million fund to assist hosts who may be struggling as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19.
As part of Airbnb’s support for a new generation of entrepreneurs, the Airbnb Africa Academy was created to encourage healthy tourism and entrepreneurship in rural and under-resourced communities across the continent. Since 2017, more than 200 tourism entrepreneurs have participated in the Airbnb Africa Academy skills development programme that provides participants with the tools and resources to succeed on the Airbnb platform.
While COVID-19 has devastated the entire travel industry, individuals from vulnerable communities, including many Airbnb Africa Academy hosts, are particularly at risk. Tourism in these communities was the first to be impacted by coronavirus and will likely be the last to recover.
This is why Airbnb has created a fund of R1 million to help support Airbnb Africa Academy hosts who have been hardest hit. By supporting the tourism entrepreneurs that have graduated from the Airbnb Africa Academy, 70% of whom are women and youth, we are continuing to invest in the future of inclusive travel in Africa.
We expect to extend all invitations to the Airbnb Africa Academy Fund by the end of May 2020.
How the fund works
What you need to know
The Airbnb Africa Academy Fund supports Homes and Experience hosts on Airbnb who have graduated from the Airbnb Africa Academy Programme and are struggling to make ends meet due to the decline in travel caused by COVID-19.
To qualify, hosts who offer a place to stay must:
-
Only share their primary or secondary residence.
-
Have been a host for 6 months or more.
-
Have participated in and graduated from the Airbnb Africa Academy programme.
-
Demonstrate that they have an active listing and have used the Airbnb platform since completing the Airbnb Africa Academy programme.
-
Have a verified identity.
-
Have lost a significant percentage of their earnings due to COVID-19.
We’ll be reviewing applications carefully and will select only those hosts who demonstrate the most need.
While everyone in our community is feeling the impact of COVID-19, we are using this fund to support inclusive tourism initiatives in South Africa and provide meaningful aid to hosts in under resourced and rural communities who have graduated from the Airbnb Africa Academy.
Airbnb will be prioritising invitations for hosts based on a number of reasons, including how long they've been a host and how badly their earnings have been impacted, at its sole discretion, and award relief grants to hosts that demonstrate the most urgent financial need.
A specialised team at Airbnb will invite hosts most in need to apply. This same team will evaluate applications on a daily basis and get in touch with hosts whose applications have been approved.
We want to support as many hosts as we can, but we also want that support to be meaningful. So we’ll be reviewing applications carefully and will select only those hosts who demonstrate the most need.
Approved hosts will receive relief grants of R20 000.
Once your application has been approved, we’ll send your relief grant within 3 business days via your usual payout method. Depending on which payout method you use, it could take up to 7 business days for the money to appear in your account.
Academy Fund grants come with no strings attached. You won’t need to repay it and can use it however you need.
We’ll invite eligible hosts to apply and start sending out relief grants to approved hosts in late May 2020.