New level 3 accommodation rules in South Africa – Airbnb and Afristay respond
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that accredited and licensed accommodation businesses can open, with the exception of home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb.
Ramaphosa added that the government will publish rules detailing the eased restrictions in the near future.
This is encouraging news for the tourism industry, but uncertainty remains on whether domestic travel restrictions will be eased.
Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) CEO Lee Zama said she hopes domestic leisure and interprovincial travel will be allowed.
“Businesses need to operate in a normalised way – interprovincial travel is an absolute must at this point,” Zama told Cape Talk.
Another topic which is receiving attention is the restriction on home-sharing such as Airbnb under level 3.
Well-known journalist Ivo Vegter questioned why you can sleep in a guesthouse, but not an Airbnb. “It’s all big business lobbying,” he said.
MyBroadband asked South Africa’s leading accommodation booking sites – Airbnb and Afristay – for their view on the new regulations.
Airbnb
An Airbnb spokesperson told MyBroadband they are seeking urgent clarity on Ramaphosa’s statement so they can give clear guidance to hosts for whom hosting is an economic lifeline.
“All types of accommodation list on Airbnb – including hotels, homes, and bed and breakfasts – are working with governments around the world to provide free accommodation to medical staff,” the company said.
The Airbnb spokesperson added that they prioritise public health through their enhanced cleaning protocol, and support economic recovery for local families, businesses, and communities.
Afristay
Afristay CEO Rupert Bryant told MyBroadband the impact of the lockdown has been really tough on their business and their clients.
“As it stands new bookings are extremely low, and we’ve had to continue to refund all previous bookings,” said Bryant.
This means Afristay’s total sales have been negative for three months and remain negative today.
Ramaphosa’s announcement has, however, sparked some interest in domestic travel which will help the industry to recover.
“We have seen an uptick of 40% in web traffic since Ramaphosa’s announcement, which is a small sign that a recovery is coming,” said Bryant.
Commenting on the restriction on home sharing, Bryant said the government is doing its best to manage a very tricky situation.
“The only sector they can really try to regulate and monitor is the accredited and licensed accommodation,” said Bryant.
“It’s certainly not an easy situation to manage when you’re dealing with lives, but at the same time many livelihoods depend upon their jobs in the tourism sector.”
Bryant said his personal preference will be for the government to release the lockdown faster and try to educate people on how to stay safe and healthy.
“After that, you can allow everyone to be free to make their own decisions, as it’s very hard and inefficient for a government to centrally plan every detail around our lives,” he said.
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