Airbnb Africa

Velma Corcoran is the Airbnb country manager for South Africa and oversees the business of the disruptive travel company in the region. She is constantly looking for new opportunities to grow tourism in the region and to manage the local team so as to build excellent relationships with hosts. Her goal is to create exceptional, high-quality Airbnb experiences while driving tourism across South Africa and Africa.

“I have been in the tourism sector for about a decade, and then this opportunity with Airbnb came along — I grabbed it with both hands,” says Corcoran. “Airbnb has been shaking things up in the industry and I wanted to be part of a company that’s doing something new in a field that hasn’t changed much in recent years. Also, this role gives me the chance to help grow tourism throughout the continent. I am passionate about Africa and travel within Africa.”

Corcoran is committed to finding ways in which Airbnb can carve out more inclusive tourism in Africa. She is currently spearheading the Airbnb Africa Academy, an initiative designed to encourage healthy tourism and entrepreneurship in rural and under-resourced communities across the continent.

“In my role, I see and realise the benefits of tourism entering communities that are not on the regular tourist map,” she says. “As a result, I am proud to say that I was part of the team that put together the first Airbnb Africa Travel Summit in 2018. It was hosted in Langa and brought together around 200 innovators in tourism and technology to share and discuss how technology can be used to accelerate inclusive and sustainable economic growth through tourism in Africa.”

Airbnb was founded in 2008 and did plenty of foundation shaking in the travel industry when it arrived. It uses technology to empower people — they can monetise their spaces and become hospitality entrepreneurs. Airbnb now offers more than six million places to stay across 81 000 cities and 191 countries.