Airbnb is one of the rising service companies that have come to disrupt specific markets and they have indeed disrupted the real estate market. Millennials nowadays find it easy to rent someone’s house for the weekend by searching for it on the Airbnb platform and this brings extra income for the host and its a shift from the old guest house and hotel system we’ve had for decades.
Governments are still woefully behind when it comes to regulation of new age service platforms and Tanzania is determined to fix these gaping holes. Now it is being reported that they are now coming for Airbnb hosts in the county.
According to The East African, Airbnb hosts in Tanzania have to register with the government in the next 50 days or they face arrest. When the 50 day period elapses, the government will apparently go from house to house and arrest operators who failed to register.
“There are many individuals who are operating these facilities. We want them to be recognized officially by the government and pay the required license fees,” Rosanda Musoma, assistant director of licensing and control in the Ministry of Tourism was quoted as saying on Monday.
Use of Airbnb in Africa has grown quite a bit. Tanzania is the 4th biggest market in the continent with 2,300 active listings and over $2.1 million earned by local households as of September last year. Only South Africa, Morocco and Kenya are ahead of the country in terms of listing and income earned by households.
This move by Tanzania is not strange at all. This year, they directed people who earn a living online to register for licenses to operate their businesses.
