In 2015, booking.com quietly began offering the ‘homestay’ option on its platform. This allowed individual hosts offering holiday homes a chance to access booking.com’s significant short-term rental traffic. For a company so well-known for finding low prices on hotel rooms, this move may have seemed counterintuitive. But as word spreads, savvy hosts have learned that booking.com may be an excellent platform to list their short-term rental properties with, especially in the Middle East.
Is Airbnb the Sharing Economy’s Biggest Win?
The great thing about the sharing economy is how mutually beneficial it is. Every user benefits when they access the sharing economy. They always find services and products that are less expensive, more accessible, and generally better quality than they would find elsewhere. And every service/producer in a sharing economy benefits because they have access to more clients and reliable payments that just aren’t available in other ways.
Business Travelers are Choosing Airbnb
One of the fastest growing categories within the Airbnb platform is business travellers. Although Airbnb wasn’t originally designed for these guests, business travellers have quickly caught on that this is often their best choice for accommodations business trips. And it adds additional value to those hosting with Airbnb Dubai as business travellers book up available listings.
Ramadan Kareem!
Muslims around the world use the beginning of May to prepare for Ramadan and Holy Month. Ramadan is an important part of the Muslim faith. In 2018 it will start near the middle of May and will take place until the middle of June. It includes prayer, fasting from sun up until sundown every day, giving to charity, and nightly feasts.
The Right Interior Design Increases Bookings for Short-Term Lets
You’ve got a residential property ready for renting to guests. It has all the basics—beds, TVs, table, and chairs—and it’s in an excellent area of Dubai. You have it listed on Airbnb, Homestay, and all the important short-term rental online platforms. But it’s hardly ever booked. And the guests who do stay don’t complain, but they’re not leaving five-star guest reviews. What’s going on?
World Cup Meydan
The Dubai World Cup 2018 is one of the world’s richest horse races with a USD 30 million pot (USD 10 million to overall winner) for nine high-class races. It’s always the final event in the horse racing season and Dubai’s biggest sporting event of the year. Not just for fans of horse racing, this star-studded affair is a social event where fashionistas and the rich and famous mingle amongst 50,000 visitors for the day’s events.
Art Dubai 2018 - March 21-24
Art lovers from around the world are beginning to arrive in Dubai for Art Dubai 2018. Since its founding in 2007, Art Dubai has become the place to view not only Middle East and North African art, but art from over 40 different countries. Emerging artists, innovative art spaces, galleries, and household names in art will all gather together to celebrate contemporary and modern art. 2018 will be the most globally diverse Art Dubai to date.
The Greening of Dubai
When you think about Dubai, the term ‘green’ probably doesn’t come to mind. But with Dubai’s changing policies and new investments into renewables, ‘green’ is becoming part of Dubai’s legacy. The city is taking significant steps towards becoming one of the most sustainable cities in the world. Just over a decade ago, Dubai was a city with one of the largest ecological impacts worldwide. For a city that also used to rely primarily on oil revenues, the transition to green sustainability is more than impressive.
Visitors to Dubai Will Welcome New Airbnb Plus
Gender Equality Benefits Airbnb in Dubai
The UAE is leading the region in developing gender equality policies and encouraging women in their quest to build businesses. Alongside this effort, in 2017 the Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC) signed an agreement to promote gender equality with the UN Global Compact—a corporate sustainability initiative. Within the region, women are becoming increasingly involved in starting their own businesses and in taking on more corporate roles. But how can this impact the Airbnb market in Dubai?