PHOTO
22 May 2016
Dubai: Tourists coming into Dubai will not have to go around hunting for places to stay anymore. Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has made sure of that.
The emirate's tourism body recently teamed up with the global home-sharing firm, Airbnb. Tourism analysts say this will result in more holiday home listings and a wider range of tourists coming into Dubai.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Dubai Tourism and the San Francisco-based firm is aimed at promoting "responsible home sharing" and diversifying visitor accommodation in the emirate, according to Nicola D'Elia, regional manager for Africa and the Middle East at Airbnb.
"We are looking to grow both the number of hosts that share their home as well as raise awareness for those travelling from the Middle East that want to experience personal hospitality and unique travel experiences," he told Gulf News by email. "We are looking forward to partnering with Dubai Tourism to promote innovative, diverse forms of tourism together."
Asked if Airbnb was eyeing similar deals in other markets of the UAE or the wider Gulf region, D'Elia said:"Airbnb is always looking to partner with local authorities to promote home sharing and authentic travel. But at this point there are no further announcements."
Airbnb helps tourists find cheap accommodation, threatening hotels by undercutting their prices. Under its agreement with Dubai Tourism, Airbnb will inform all host members of the tourism body's regulations and work with the department to promote Dubai.
Helal Saeed Al Merri, Director General of Dubai Tourism, said in a statement last week: "In keeping with global demand trends and a highly digitised market place for key enablers of tourism infrastructure, we are pleased to partner with Airbnb, a pioneer in this space, to help promote diverse accommodation options to our visitors in a safe, secure and controlled manner."
Airbnb was founded in 2008. In short time, it has expanded rapidly, with a presence in more than 34,000 cities worldwide. And its listings in Dubai have doubled since last year to more than 3,500 today.
The move will allow Airbnb to attract more home owners and tenants, since it "reflects greater transparency and security for using such services," said Nikola Kosutic, research manager at consultancy Euromonitor International.
It seeks to capitalise on Airbnb's reach "to meet the tourism targets keeping in mind the changing consumer behaviour towards short-term rentals as compared to luxurious hotels," he said, adding that the higher number of holiday home owners using Airbnb will increase the supply of [holiday home] rentals, leading to a reduction in average rental prices.
"This will make Airbnb a very visible and competitive player in the market, disturbing pricing strategies of most hotels, especially high-end and luxurious ones," Kosutic pointed out.
John Podaras, partner at consultancy Hotel Development Resources, agrees. "Sharing economy [services] will have some impact on the demand for traditional hospitality, affecting the unbranded hotel apartment sector, especially," he said.
"This channel will open Dubai to new markets and segments that could not afford to stay, or encourage existing segments to extend their length of stay, which provides revenue-earning opportunities for the market as a whole."
Christopher Hewett, associate director at TRI Consulting in Dubai, however, begs to differ as he says that the increasing availability of non-hotel accommodation is "unlikely to impact the performance of existing and future hotels", as they target and appeal to different market segments.
Podaras added: "The hotel industry has always claimed, quite rightly, that the product they offer differs from that offered by sharing platforms. A hotel or hotel apartment brand brings with it the security and market awareness of a quality, operational, service and safety standards. To achieve that, it requires back of house and human resource support that is simply not available in typical residential buildings or the associated individuals and letting agents."
The tie-up between Dubai Tourism and Airbnb comes shortly after the tourism department's move last month to ease holiday home regulations, allowing home owners to apply for a holiday home license without going through an approved operator if they meet certain criteria.
Also, tenants renting property can lease their home as a holiday home with a short-term permit if they present a no objection certificate from their landlord and meet other requirements.
"These efforts are going to have a positive effect on the growth of the holiday home sector by providing them increased outreach to global audience, especially those coming from Europe and North America, where services like Airbnb are used more widely," Euromonitor's Kosutic said.
He added that values sales of holiday homes in the UAE rose 21 per cent in 2015, with growth rate expected to reach 22 per cent this year.
-- With inputs from Sarah Diaa, Staff Reporter
© Gulf News 2016
Dubai: Tourists coming into Dubai will not have to go around hunting for places to stay anymore. Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has made sure of that.
The emirate's tourism body recently teamed up with the global home-sharing firm, Airbnb. Tourism analysts say this will result in more holiday home listings and a wider range of tourists coming into Dubai.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Dubai Tourism and the San Francisco-based firm is aimed at promoting "responsible home sharing" and diversifying visitor accommodation in the emirate, according to Nicola D'Elia, regional manager for Africa and the Middle East at Airbnb.
"We are looking to grow both the number of hosts that share their home as well as raise awareness for those travelling from the Middle East that want to experience personal hospitality and unique travel experiences," he told Gulf News by email. "We are looking forward to partnering with Dubai Tourism to promote innovative, diverse forms of tourism together."
Asked if Airbnb was eyeing similar deals in other markets of the UAE or the wider Gulf region, D'Elia said:"Airbnb is always looking to partner with local authorities to promote home sharing and authentic travel. But at this point there are no further announcements."
Airbnb helps tourists find cheap accommodation, threatening hotels by undercutting their prices. Under its agreement with Dubai Tourism, Airbnb will inform all host members of the tourism body's regulations and work with the department to promote Dubai.
Helal Saeed Al Merri, Director General of Dubai Tourism, said in a statement last week: "In keeping with global demand trends and a highly digitised market place for key enablers of tourism infrastructure, we are pleased to partner with Airbnb, a pioneer in this space, to help promote diverse accommodation options to our visitors in a safe, secure and controlled manner."
Airbnb was founded in 2008. In short time, it has expanded rapidly, with a presence in more than 34,000 cities worldwide. And its listings in Dubai have doubled since last year to more than 3,500 today.
The move will allow Airbnb to attract more home owners and tenants, since it "reflects greater transparency and security for using such services," said Nikola Kosutic, research manager at consultancy Euromonitor International.
It seeks to capitalise on Airbnb's reach "to meet the tourism targets keeping in mind the changing consumer behaviour towards short-term rentals as compared to luxurious hotels," he said, adding that the higher number of holiday home owners using Airbnb will increase the supply of [holiday home] rentals, leading to a reduction in average rental prices.
"This will make Airbnb a very visible and competitive player in the market, disturbing pricing strategies of most hotels, especially high-end and luxurious ones," Kosutic pointed out.
John Podaras, partner at consultancy Hotel Development Resources, agrees. "Sharing economy [services] will have some impact on the demand for traditional hospitality, affecting the unbranded hotel apartment sector, especially," he said.
"This channel will open Dubai to new markets and segments that could not afford to stay, or encourage existing segments to extend their length of stay, which provides revenue-earning opportunities for the market as a whole."
Christopher Hewett, associate director at TRI Consulting in Dubai, however, begs to differ as he says that the increasing availability of non-hotel accommodation is "unlikely to impact the performance of existing and future hotels", as they target and appeal to different market segments.
Podaras added: "The hotel industry has always claimed, quite rightly, that the product they offer differs from that offered by sharing platforms. A hotel or hotel apartment brand brings with it the security and market awareness of a quality, operational, service and safety standards. To achieve that, it requires back of house and human resource support that is simply not available in typical residential buildings or the associated individuals and letting agents."
The tie-up between Dubai Tourism and Airbnb comes shortly after the tourism department's move last month to ease holiday home regulations, allowing home owners to apply for a holiday home license without going through an approved operator if they meet certain criteria.
Also, tenants renting property can lease their home as a holiday home with a short-term permit if they present a no objection certificate from their landlord and meet other requirements.
"These efforts are going to have a positive effect on the growth of the holiday home sector by providing them increased outreach to global audience, especially those coming from Europe and North America, where services like Airbnb are used more widely," Euromonitor's Kosutic said.
He added that values sales of holiday homes in the UAE rose 21 per cent in 2015, with growth rate expected to reach 22 per cent this year.
-- With inputs from Sarah Diaa, Staff Reporter
© Gulf News 2016
