The popular online booking service Airbnb rates Dubai among most expensive cities yet rates are more competitive compared to those charged by hotels and serviced apartments.
With the rapidly growing holiday home market for the past few years, a report has revealed that the city has more than 10,000 active listings on the Airbnb platform.
Out of a total of almost 20,000 properties which have been registered on the Airing platform, Dubai has 10,766 active listings. City’s holiday home market accounts for 2% of Dubai’s total households, it is the highest proportion of all other hub cities of the world.
In a previous report, after Dubai Tourism and Airbnb signed an MoU in 2016, the vast majority of holiday home supply was centered in Dubai Marina, the Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Residence, DIFC, and Downtown Dubai. According to the recent Dubai Holiday Homes Market Review, 2019 report shows that the total number of listings has increased substantially in recent years, with total active listings recording a growth rate of 161% since 2016.
The Bloomberg index puts Dubai’s short-term rentals at an average of $185 a night. However, Airbnb disputes this and claims the index overstates the cost of an Airbnb listing.
The average hotel room cost in Dubai was $181 in 2017 whereas the average daily rate for an Airbnb in the city was $112. In an interview with Hotelier Middle East, Airbnb’s general manager for the Middle East and Africa, Hadi Moussa said “First, this data considers advertised listings, not listings that are booked. Second, this data considers almost every available listing – from a one-bedroom apartment to a 10-bedroom house and beyond. Even with these flaws, the data shows that Airbnb offers a better value for travelers, particularly when compared to the typical hotel room,”
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Dubai’s increasing popularity as a tourist destination also drives up the price point of Airbnb listings. Where five-star hotels make up 43.6 percent of the total stock, The Airbnb rates are a function of high hotel rates in Dubai.
Dubai’s tourism department is targeting 20 million visitors by 2020 which is leading many real estate investors realizing that holiday let higher rental returns, the number of properties listed on Airbnb is likely to significantly increase in the coming years.
