Short-term rental management in Zanzibar — Stone Town, Nungwi, Kendwa

Owners in Zanzibar typically forfeit a fifth to a third of achievable revenue to three fixable faults: shoulder weeks priced too low, a thin channel mix, and slow replies to guest enquiries. We reset all three in week one. Our revenue team re-prices every listing daily against Sauti za Busara demand, comparable RevPAR in Stone Town and Nungwi, and forward booking pace.

Compliance is handled in-house. Zanzibar Commission for Tourism (ZCT) accommodation licence handled in-house. Each month you receive one clear gross-to-net statement; every fee is named and nothing is netted off quietly.

We focus on the Zanzibar neighbourhoods where premium short-stay demand actually clears: Stone Town, Nungwi, Kendwa, Paje, Jambiani, Matemwe. No two districts here share a booking curve, so minimum stays and rates are set locally rather than from a city-wide template.

Properties outside these areas are still welcome for review — we simply only take them on when the numbers say we can beat the local market.

The Jun – Oct + Dec – Feb window does the heavy lifting in Zanzibar, but the 18–32% ADR uplift our owners typically see comes from the shoulder months. We use a proprietary model that blends competitor pricing, booking-window pace, length-of-stay mix and event signals (Sauti za Busara, ZIFF film festival, kite season at Paje) — re-running every 24 hours.

Length-of-stay rules tighten through peak and loosen in quiet weeks so gaps get filled. The result is occupancy of around 72% blended across the year on a typical Zanzibar portfolio property.