Airbnb has launched in South Africa, with CEO Brian Chesky visiting the country\u00a0on 27 July to announce their plans to accelerate its growth.<\/p>\n
The service lets people list accommodation for rent \u2013 including rooms in their homes. Users can then book listed lodgings online.<\/p>\n
Renters and visitors can then leave reviews for one another on the website.<\/p>\n
In June, CNN Money reported that Airbnb is raising $1.5 billion, giving the company a valuation of $25.5 billion.<\/p>\n
According to Airbnb, South Africa is its largest market in Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Africa is an incredibly beautiful and diverse country, with so much to offer visitors,\u201d said Chesky.<\/p>\n
Nicola D\u2019Elia was named as general manager for the region. Previously, D\u2019Elia\u00a0was responsible for Facebook\u2019s growth and partnerships in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.<\/p>\n
Airbnb said that D\u2019Elia will build a team to accelerate the service\u2019s growth in Africa and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
While Airbnb only officially launched on\u00a027 July, the service has been available to South Africans who wanted to list accommodation for rent.<\/p>\n
The company highlighted the following statistics, which it said reflects its growth over the last 12 months:<\/p>\n
Chesky said<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Airbnb plans to expand further across the African continent, with listings in the region increasing by 145%, while the number of Africans using Airbnb to travel has increased by 139%.<\/p>\n South African startups draw millions in investment<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on startups in SA<\/h3>\n