Cape Town’s tourism sector is booming. In December alone, the Mother City welcomed more than 500,000 visitors through its airport. All indications are that 2025 will be another record year.
The city’s positioning as a top travel destination offers a wealth of opportunities to property owners, but the key to maximising rental income is to boost your occupancy rates.
Here’s how you can ensure a steady flow of bookings all year round.
1. Create unique guest packages
Guests, especially international guests, are looking for more than clean and comfortable accommodation. They want the full Cape Town experience.
By partnering with local businesses, you can offer guests airport transfers, adventure activities, guided wine and peninsula tours, and discounted meals at local restaurants and pubs.
That way, you’re assured of standing out from the 18,000-plus property listings in Cape Town.
2. Recruit the services of a professional cleaning team
When a property is clean and well-maintained, it gets good reviews and repeat bookings.
Paying guests demand the highest level of comfort and cleanliness. This requires regular deep cleaning of carpets, upholstery, mattresses and drapes.
As tight turnaround times can be challenging, especially over the season, it’s best to recruit the services of a reliable professional cleaning team that has the equipment and experience to tackle the job quickly and efficiently.
3. Use data-driven tools and resources to arrive at fair rates
Determining a fair rental rate for your property can be tricky. Charge too much and the occupancy rate plummets. Charge too little and it affects your profit margins.
Rather than relying on guesswork, a better option is to use tech to inform your pricing strategy.
There are plenty of automated resources available that analyse multiple data points to arrive at dynamic and competitive short-term rental rates.
By using real-time data of the Cape Town rental market, rates can be adjusted based on factors like seasonality, demand, length of stay and days of the week.
The more sophisticated tools can update rates on multiple booking platforms on a day-to-day basis.
Adopting a dynamic pricing strategy is the answer to “best price” repeat bookings.
4. Optimise your property listing
Get creative when listing your property on online booking platforms. It is the first point of contact with potential guests. You want it to visually “pop” and catch their attention.
Provide a clear and concise overview of what your short-term rental unit offers in terms of space, furnishings, appliances and amenities. Back it up with numerous photographs.
Highlight why your property is unique. Include helpful information like distances to beaches, shopping malls and other iconic Cape Town attractions.
5. Develop a direct booking page
Listing your rental property on online booking platforms is one way to increase your occupancy rate.
Integrating a direct booking page on your website is another. It opens a personalised channel to guests, and allows you to take full control of the booking process.
If the hands-on approach is not what you’re after, use a direct booking engine instead. That way, you avoid paying commissions while increasing the occupancy rate.
The best booking engines offer features that automate and streamline key processes, enhance search visibility, and generate special offers and promotional codes.
6. List on digital nomad platforms
As of May 2024, the Digital Nomad Visa allows foreign nationals to live in Cape Town and work remotely for up to 36 months.
This has resulted in an influx of foreigners, all of whom are looking for furnished accommodation over the short- and medium-term.
With as many as 10,000 nomads in the city at any one time, it’s a market that’s well worth tapping.
Connecting with potential guests on the Cape Town Digital Nomads Facebook page, or listing your property on accommodation platforms targeting digital nomads, has the potential to turn your rental unit into a year-round money-spinner.
