KHALEEJ TIMES, Tuesday, Sep 10, 2019 | Muharram 11, 1441
Holiday-home players in Dubai's Downtown relieved
Emirates:
Legal holiday home operators in Dubai's Downtown on Monday heaved a sigh
of relief with Dubai Tourism, the relevant authority, clarifying the rules and
regulations governing the activity.
All operators and individual owners must have a valid permit for practising the
activity before marketing on online booking platforms. Both the operators and
individual owners must also include the permit number in all the advertisements
for each specific unit, Dubai Tourism said in a statement at a time when an
Emaar notification asking all its residents to cease holiday home operations by
September 19 had roiled the industry.
Dubai Tourism said bed space rental and unit sharing are prohibited by law in
Dubai and, therefore, should not be advertised.
Vinayak Mahtani, chief executive officer of bnbme, said: "After days of waiting,
the DTCM (Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing) has come out with the
clarification. We had full confidence that the authorities would clarify the
regulations. Let's all get back to entertaining our guests and ensuring they
have a wow experience in Dubai."
Holiday home operators had expressed concern over the Emaar notification which,
they said, would impact their agreements with global clients. Emaar did not
respond to Khaleej Times mail at the time of going to press.
Khurram Shroff, chairman of IBC Group and Gallery Suites, said: "Highlighting
the legal permits and rules that operators, big or small, need to follow, will
help streamline the market and ease any concerns."
"Some holiday home companies are actually being used as an umbrella for
practising bed space sharing/rental or room rentals which is illegal in Dubai,
said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO, Fam properties & Fam Living.
"I think it is important to always communicate to all players in the market that
this is not allowed. When such statements are made public, it is educating the
landlords too. Sometimes a property can be taken from a landlord with an NOC to
run a holiday home and the landlord would not actually know that it is abused to
be rented on bed space basis. So I think it is important that such rules are
publicly available to educate not only companies but also landlords and
businessmen who wish to invest in properties and put them on short-term
rentals," Al Msaddi added.
Cecilia Reinaldo, CEO, HOD.co, said: "The DTCM's memo regarding holiday home
operators and individual owners reassures property owners and holiday operators
what is required in order to advertise and operate short-term rentals."