Airbnb Occupancy Rate in Zanzibar, Tanzânia, Data & Trends 2026

Over the June 2024 to May 2026 window, Zanzibar averaged 42% occupancy across roughly 152 booked nights a year, exactly in line with the 42% figure ListingOK records for Tanzania, where the island is the single tracked market. Its 54 euro average daily rate is low in absolute terms, reflecting a developing-market price point and a wide spread of budget to luxury stock, and combines with the modest occupancy to produce average monthly revenue of about 664 euros per listing.

The revenue figure is the key context: this is a high-volume, low-rate, weather-dependent market where the roughly 152 nights a year and 42% occupancy leave little slack outside the dry-season peaks. A 10% year-on-year revenue decline points to softening yields, likely from rising supply on a fixed seasonal demand base. With a seasonality index of 67%, the takeaway is that disciplined peak-season pricing matters disproportionately, because the long-rains trough offers limited room to recover lost ground.

Zanzibar is an Indian Ocean island archipelago off the Tanzanian coast, and its short-term rental demand is almost entirely international beach and culture tourism. The draw splits between the white-sand beaches and turquoise reefs of the north and east coasts, prized for diving and kitesurfing, and the UNESCO-listed labyrinth of Stone Town, where Swahili, Arab, Indian and European history blend in coral-stone alleys, spice markets and the old port. Many guests combine the island with a mainland Tanzanian safari, arriving for a beach-and-bush itinerary.

This is a leisure-led, fly-in market that depends heavily on long-haul European and increasingly other international visitors, with arrivals through Abeid Amani Karume International Airport. Spice-farm tours, Mnemba Atoll snorkelling, dhow cruises and full-moon beach parties at Kendwa round out the experience. Because the island has no significant business or domestic demand to fall back on, occupancy tracks the international travel calendar and the monsoon weather windows more tightly than a diversified urban market would.

Stone Town, the historic UNESCO core, is the cultural anchor and converts for short, experience-led stays close to the airport, the spice markets and the ferry port, though its beach is limited. Nungwi and Kendwa, on the northern tip, hold the highest-demand beach stock: year-round white sand, dive centres near Mnemba Atoll, and Kendwa's famous full-moon parties make them the island's resort heartland, typically at the strongest rates.

On the east coast, Paje is the kitesurfing and backpacker hub with lively bars and budget-friendly inventory, while neighbouring Jambiani offers a quieter, more local village feel for guests seeking calm. Matemwe, near the Mnemba reef, suits diving-focused visitors. Across the island, beachfront position, reef access and proximity to a lively hub drive nightly rate far more than any administrative boundary, with the north commanding a premium over the more laid-back east.