Airbnb Academy Fund
Airbnb is continuing its commitment to help support Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy Hosts
The Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy is a global program that empowers emerging entrepreneurs to turn their passion for hospitality into hosting opportunities on Airbnb. In South Africa we focus on overcoming barriers to hosting often experienced in township and rural communities.
Since 2017 more than 300 tourism entrepreneurs have participated in the Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy , a skills development programme that provides participants with the tools and resources to succeed on the Airbnb platform.
In 2020, we announced a R1 million fund to assist graduates from the Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy who were struggling as a result of the economic impact of the pandemic.
While COVID-19 has devastated the entire travel industry, hosts in rural and township communities have been particularly hard-hit. This is why Airbnb is continuing its commitment to help support Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy Hosts with a further R1.5 million rand investment into the fund.
With 70% of the tourism entrepreneurs that have graduated from the program being women and youth, our support means that we are continuing to invest in the future of inclusive travel in Africa.
Invitations will be extended to eligible Hosts by the end of September 2021.
How the fund works
Airbnb invites eligible Hosts to apply
We’ll email invitations to eligible Hosts who have previously participated in the Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy Programme.
Airbnb reviews applications and provides grants
We’ll review and respond to all applications from the Hosts who received an invitation. For each approved application, a relief grant of up to R25 000 will be awarded within 4 weeks.
Grants sent to Hosts via Airbnb payout method
This grant comes with no strings attached - Hosts won’t need to repay it and can use it however they need.
Meet previous fund recipients
“The Airbnb Academy Fund helped me and my family during the pandemic. I used the money to pay for my daughter's class fees at college. I also managed to study for the National Qualifications Framework Level 4 in Tourist Guiding and I bought beading material for my guests' beadwork lessons.”
“The Airbnb Academy Fund helped me and my family during the pandemic. I used the money to pay for my daughter's class fees at college. I also managed to study for the National Qualifications Framework Level 4 in Tourist Guiding and I bought beading material for my guests' beadwork lessons.”
“I live in the Bo-Kaap in Cape Town - it is a beautiful, vibrant and colourful community. When we weren’t able to host because of COVID-19, I wasn’t sure how I was going to contribute financially to my family and it was a difficult period in my life. When the Airbnb Academy Fund came through it was a blessing, it came at a point where I was losing hope. The money was able to last us for more than five months and contributed to the day-to-day household costs. I also used some of the money to support friends in the community.”
“I live in the Bo-Kaap in Cape Town - it is a beautiful, vibrant and colourful community. When we weren’t able to host because of COVID-19, I wasn’t sure how I was going to contribute financially to my family and it was a difficult period in my life. When the Airbnb Academy Fund came through it was a blessing, it came at a point where I was losing hope. The money was able to last us for more than five months and contributed to the day-to-day household costs. I also used some of the money to support friends in the community.”
“The funds were used to pay six staff. We used some of the funds to pay for six months bank rates, six months for our insurance and six months for the Cape Town Tourism membership card. We were able to be financially stable for those months since we were not doing any tours. Before the pandemic things were really looking good for us. We love tourism and we believe that we have something special to show the world, our culture, the vibe of the township and its history. We also run an after school program, so we use tourism to market the work that we are doing and 10% of all the tours goes to Sakhisizwe Youth Development Programme.”
“The funds were used to pay six staff. We used some of the funds to pay for six months bank rates, six months for our insurance and six months for the Cape Town Tourism membership card. We were able to be financially stable for those months since we were not doing any tours. Before the pandemic things were really looking good for us. We love tourism and we believe that we have something special to show the world, our culture, the vibe of the township and its history. We also run an after school program, so we use tourism to market the work that we are doing and 10% of all the tours goes to Sakhisizwe Youth Development Programme.”
“With the money I received from the fund I had to sustain my family for as long as I could. I bought groceries every month, I also had to cover my insurance since I had no additional source of income, and I had to do a few renovations in the house. I also had decided to save up some money for any other emergencies that came our way as a family, but we had to use that money to support other family members. I have not been able to host since the lockdown last year, but I remain hopeful because I know that the same reason that brought me to tourism - the global human connections which tourism brings - will once again come back.”
“With the money I received from the fund I had to sustain my family for as long as I could. I bought groceries every month, I also had to cover my insurance since I had no additional source of income, and I had to do a few renovations in the house. I also had decided to save up some money for any other emergencies that came our way as a family, but we had to use that money to support other family members. I have not been able to host since the lockdown last year, but I remain hopeful because I know that the same reason that brought me to tourism - the global human connections which tourism brings - will once again come back.”
What you need to know
The Airbnb Academy Fund supports Homes and Experience Hosts on Airbnb who have graduated from the Airbnb Entrepreneurship 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:
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Only share their primary or secondary residence.
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Have participated in and graduated from the Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy programme.
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Have been hosting since graduating from the Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy programme.
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Demonstrate that they have an active listing and have used the Airbnb platform since completing the Airbnb Africa Academy programme.
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Have a verified identity.
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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 Entrepreneurship 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 R25 000.
Once your application has been approved, we’ll send your relief grant within 10 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.
Airbnb 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 September 2021.