How to host an Experience on Airbnb – Success story of Eric in Cape Town

A few years ago Airbnb added the possibility to host an Experience and offer travelers to get a private experience when they are visiting a new city.

This is a great way for hosts who have a vacation rental to add a plus and scale their business.

This week, I interviewed Eric from the amazing city of Cape Town, South Africa to tell us more about how he became a host of vegan experiences on Airbnb.

The vegan market is booming those years, so Eric has chosen the right niche to work with!

1. Tell us a little about yourself

My wife Susan is South African and I am English.  We’ve lived in Cape Town for 8 years and prior to that we lived in Hong Kong and Indonesia for 5 years. 

After working in the telecom industry for year, I decided to focus now to property investment and property management.  Susan and I are very entrepreneurial, free spirits when it comes to business. We’ve very much embraced the gig economy. 

We set up our first Airbnb villa accommodation in Cape Town 6 years ago and now we have 3.

2. How you got get the idea of hosting vegan experiences on Airbnb?

About 3 years ago we were approached by Airbnb in the USA. 

They chose Cape Town as one of 8 trial cities around the world for their new concept called Airbnb Experiences. 

We were one of the original 8 trial experience host ambassadors in our city.  When proposing our experience, we decided to follow our vegan lifestyle. 

We worked with them in curating something very unique and special.  They helped us with the business plan too. 

3. Tell us about this Airbnb Vegan Experience in Cape Town

We curated a 3 day vegan experience of Cape Town that was nothing like this city had ever seen.

Day 1 – an introductory, get to know you. We organize lunch for guests at the leading vegan restaurant in town.  Followed by a walk through one of the most historical parts of Cape Town dating back to the mid 1600s.  Followed by a well deserved vegan ice cream in the afternoon.

Day 2 – an all day vegan extravaganza in the beautiful and historic town of Franschhoek deep in the heart of the cape winelands about 1 hour drive from the city. 

The day includes olive and olive oil tastings, wine pairings, a visit to an amazing animal establishment and unique and exclusive 4 course, fine dining lunch at one of south Africa’s top farmhouse restaurants. All vegan of course.  All food, wine and transport included.

Since we started with this experience we’ve started a family so don’t have time to do everything. 

We focus now on Day 2 as our primary offering and we can also offer Day 1 if guests request it. 

Our favorite is tailoring programs and experiences that meet specific guests’ needs. So all very bespoke, personalized, exclusive and all vegan of course.

4. How do you promote your Airbnb experience as a Host?

Mostly through Airbnb, Instagram and through word of mouth.  We also offer it to our guests who book our vacation rental properties. 

We welcome vegans and non vegans alike on our vegan food and wine experiences. 

Generous Earth is all about opening people’s hearts and minds to cruelty free living.  We do it in a stress free, informal manner that is welcoming and embracing. 

Our guests love the days they spend with us.  They get to know our lifestyle, our motivations, our beautiful city and our amazing food and wine.  

5 – How did you set up your experience on Airbnb?

It was very easy to set it up through Airbnbs online templates and guides. 

Make sure to choose the right price for your Airbnb experience

The hard work was the business plan.  Costing each third party input, adding a sufficient mark up to make it worthwhile for us but at the same time appeal to our guests that are mostly overseas visitors. 

Our 1 day in Franschhoek for instance, which is our most popular day, is priced at ZAR 3,750 / US$ 260 per person. Includes all transport to and from Cape Town, all food and wine, entrance to our special surprise location, and some further surprises along the way.

What do you think is important when setting up an experience on Airbnb?

One needs to thoroughly research the market and create something unique.  Something that can’t be found in the guidebooks. 

Curate something special, add personal touches.  Always “surprise and delight” guests. 

At Generous Earth we are in the business of creating memories and friends that last a lifetime – all cruelty free.  Compassion for animals and the environment is what drives us as people and our business.

6. How do you stand out from the competition with your Airbnb experiences?

We do not know of any other organization or individual that does what we do.  Some people try but can’t quite achieve the brand position and experience we achieve.

They can’t quite add the personal touch that we do.  We truly believe we offer an unbeatable guest experience.  Passion is key.

Airbnb Vegan Experience Coupon Cape Town

Be sure to mention when booking your experience at Generous Earth that you come from my blog and they will offer you a 5% off for any bookings of 2 people or more!

If you liked this story and want to host your own experience, you can use this link here.

7.  What are your 5 top tips making money with Airbnb?

• Know your market segments Don’t under sell yourself on price and compromise on quality
• Create experiences that cannot be matched.  Always strive for greatness and a unique point of difference
• Follow your passion – if you don’t love what you do then the attention to detail will not be there
• Always surprise and delight guests
• Be highly selective of third party establishments that input to your experience.  They need to share the same values as you do.  In our case passion, compassion and delicious food/wine that can stand up against the best cuisine in the world.

Over to you, tell me in the comments: have you ever thought of hosting an experience on Airbnb for travelers? Which passion do you want to share with your guests?

Please remember to pin it!

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