Partnership to promote responsible hosting following introduction of updated regulations

DUBAI, UAE: 19 May, 2016: Dubai's Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) and Airbnb, the world's leading community-driven hospitality company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to help promote responsible hosting and help grow and diversify tourism in the emirate.

It follows the introduction of enhanced regulations last month that make obtaining a 'holiday home' license more streamlined for individual tenants and homeowners who want to rent their homes to guests.

The MoU will bolster collaboration between the two parties and help enhance and diversify the emirate's holiday home sector, boosting competition through a safe and transparent holiday home segment.  

Under the agreement, Airbnb will cooperate with Dubai Tourism on preventing breaches of the regulation by informing all host members of the Dubai Tourism regulations via its website and through email reminders of the rules. The two parties will also explore joint marketing and promotional activations for Dubai as a tourism destination.

The MoU agreement states:

• Dubai Tourism and Airbnb will work together to help grow and diversify tourism in Dubai, and promote innovative forms of tourism
• Airbnb will raise awareness on the positive impacts of the Airbnb community by sharing aggregated, anonymised data about short term rental hosts
• Airbnb will help promote responsible sharing of holiday homes by creating a “Hosting Page” on its platform, informing hosts of the rules and linking to official information
• Airbnb will send regular reminders to its hosts in Dubai to remind them of the rules around responsible home sharing

Airbnb is an increasingly popular way for guests from around the world to experience Dubai by staying with local hosts. There are almost 3,500 Airbnb listings in Dubai. This number and the number of guests choosing Airbnb when traveling to Dubai has doubled since last year.

His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai Tourism, said: “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. This not only lets us be more competitive as a tourism destination but also speaks to our ability as government to drive demand led policy making and embrace innovation to further our proposition. Ultimately visitor experience is at the heart of initiatives undertaken by Dubai Tourism and this is one such example of how we continue to partner with the private and public sector to deliver against our destination promise.”

Olivier Gremillon, Managing Director of Airbnb in EMEA, said: “Airbnb is good news for Dubai. It helps grow and diversify tourism, increase consumer choice and will attract new guests to this exciting destination. This partnership with Dubai Tourism will combine the dynamism of Dubai with the passionate hosts who open their doors; creating rewarding travel experiences for guests. This is just the start of our partnership and we look forward to the future and the many opportunities it holds for travellers.”

In line with the MoU, Dubai Tourism last month updated its regulations surrounding holiday homes to become more competitive, with the most significant amendments positively impacting individual owners and tenants. Under the new resolution, private home owners can apply for a holiday home license without the need to go through an approved Dubai Tourism operator providing they meet all criteria, as can tenants who are renting a property.

Dubai Tourism has upgraded its application portal to facilitate these new license applications, and will shortly allow for all e-commerce payments to be done digitally, making it one of the most progressive destinations to use the system globally.

Caption: (Centre right) His Excellency Almarri and (Right) Olivier Gremillon, with (left) Sahia Ahmed, General Counsel, Dubai Tourism and Nicola D'Elia, General Manager - Middle East and Africa, Airbnb (Centre left) at the MoU signing in Dubai.

About Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism)

With the ultimate vision of positioning Dubai as the world's leading tourism destination and commercial hub, Dubai Tourism's mission is to increase the awareness of Dubai among global audiences and to attract tourists and inward investment into the emirate.

Dubai Tourism is the principal authority for the planning, supervision, development and marketing of Dubai's tourism sector. It markets and promotes the Emirate's commerce sector, and is responsible for the licensing and classification of all tourism services, including hotels, tour operators and travel agents. Brands and departments within the Dubai Tourism portfolio include Dubai Convention and Events Bureau, Dubai Calendar, and Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (formerly known as Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment). In addition to its headquarters in Dubai, Dubai Tourism operates 20 offices worldwide.

About Airbnb

Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world – online or from a mobile phone. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and over 190 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetize their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions.