Tourism & Travel News South Africa

Airbnb and Vice teams up for a once in a lifetime experience

Airbnb and Vice Media have teamed up to send 100 people on a once in a lifetime experience trip to Paris, Harlem, Cape Town and Tokyo through the Airbnb Trips platform.

Youth media brand, Vice, has captivated audiences for more than two decades through immersive storytelling around the world, which has made them the brand of choice in providing cutting-edge content to the Airbnb experience.

The four Airbnb Experiences available to win include:

Cape Town’s Techno Township

Dive into the electronic music scene in the Khayelitsha township alongside South African rapper, DJ and producer Spoek Mathambo and Khayelitsha’s own, Yolanda Fyrus, and see how rhythm and beats are imprinted in the culture by learning traditional dance moves, as well as collaborating with one of the DJ’s to produce your own track.

Mathambo coined the term Township Techno, after witnessing Khayelitsha’s vibrant electronic music scene.

DJ and producer Spoek Mathambo and Khayelitsha’s own, Yolanda Fyrus.
DJ and producer Spoek Mathambo and Khayelitsha’s own, Yolanda Fyrus.

“Cape Town had a really strong jazz, rock, punk, and traditional music, but a lot of the traditional instruments stopped being available. Electronic music has allowed people to express yourselves with instruments you have in your house,” says Mathambo.

Airbnb’s regional market consultant for Southern Africa, Velma Corcoran said it was no surprise, that Mathambo and Fyrus were chosen.

“Spoek Mathambo and Yolanda Fyrus are the perfect fit for the Airbnb-Vice experience. Spoek is at the forefront of Afro-futurism, combining electronic music with kwaito and Xhosa vocals. Their cutting-edge music and style are uniquely South African, but with a mass global appeal,” said Corcoran.

It’s this passion for homegrown tech music that has helped put Cape Town on the world’s coolest cities list. Airbnb and VICE have partnered to create a global competition, with the Mother City sitting alongside Paris, New York and Tokyo.

Touring Paris with Camille Emmanuelle

Experience a taste of Paris with classic cabarets in Pigalle, “love stories”, private burlesque class, and delicious baguettes, along with internationally published writer, educator and therapist, Camille Emmanuelle, whose work focuses on intimacy and empowerment.

Voguing in New York City

Despite being an exclusive and close-knit community, voguing subcultures unique to New York are gaining recognition - experience the history, dance moves and attend a vivid and energetic vogue party. The tour is curated along with multidisciplinary artist born and raised in New York City, Kia LeBeija, whose work explores the intersections of community, politics, fine art and activism.

Exploring LGBTQ narratives in Tokyo

Learn about Tokyo’s partially-hidden queer culture and how manga comics are pushing LGBTQ narrative into mainstream pop culture, and then, explore the nightlife of the Ni-chōme district, which boasts the highest concentration of gay bars in the world. This tour is curated alongside Ian Daniel, producer, filmmaker and co-host of the Emmy-nominated Viceland show, Gaycation, and Yuki Keiser, a Japanese cultural consultant, Tokyo travel curator and writer.

Each trip includes:

  • One ticket to one of the Experiences offered. (Each experience is offered four times and no one can attend more than one.)
  • Roundtrip airfare to either Tokyo, Paris, Cape Town, or New York.
  • Three nights accommodation in an Airbnb home.
  • Per diem for local transportation and food.

Through Experiences, people can enjoy different sides of a city, and locals can share their interests with fellow locals and visitors alike. For cities, Experiences help diversify tourism from busy city centres to the hidden corners of cities, giving travellers unprecedented access to people and places they would otherwise miss. Today, more than 2,500 Experiences are available to book in more than 35 cities around the world.

From 14 August to 1 September 2017, eligible entrants age 21 and over residing in the United States, Canada (excluding Quebec), Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, and South Africa, are invited to submit a response to a thematic prompt on the contest page, using their Airbnb account, to enter for a chance to win a VICE and Airbnb Experience. Entries will be judged on the originality, creativity and spirit of their response to the prompt. No purchase necessary. Interested parties should go to www.airbnb.com/vice to see if they meet the requirements to enter and for official rules.

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