Dubai Tourism Authority issues new guidelines for holiday homes sector

A new resolution governing holiday home activity in Dubai has been issued.

The new administrative order outlines rules for operators, homeowners and authorised tenants, who wish to obtain a holiday home license, a statement said.

The order, issued by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), has been primarily developed to diversify the tourism sector in the emirate, and foster competition through transparent operations.

The order clarifies the law of Decree No. 41, introduced in 2013, to govern and regulate holiday home activity in Dubai.

The detailed guide, containing all technical requirements and guidelines for requisite stakeholders, will be issued soon.

The guide will also carry details of the operations of a holiday home, the procurement and maintenance of its license, and the rights and liabilities of developers, operators and homeowners, the statement said.

Holiday home operations began in 2015, and since, the sector has witnessed an average annual growth of 42 per cent, with rented housing units growing from 4,738 units in 2018 to 7,005 units in 2019.

“Dubai’s holiday homes market has witnessed continuous growth over the past few years, driven by increasing demand for a wide range of accommodation options from the emirate’s diverse traveller segments,” said Khalid Bin Touq, executive director, tourism activities and classification sector, Dubai Tourism.

“This new administrative resolution will reassure the industry that we are taking steps to regulate the operation of Holiday Homes, providing a comprehensive classification and verification process and ensuring global best practices are adopted to increase competitiveness, transparency, safety and standardisation of the sector.”

In September 2019, Dubai developer Emaar launched ‘Ease by Emaar’, a short-term rental platform for holiday homes, enabling owners in certain Emaar communities to rent out their units as holiday homes to guests.

Read more: Dubai developer Emaar launches short-term rental platform for holiday homes

However, in the days following the launch of the platform, the developer issued a circular confirming that holiday home rentals would not be permitted in its Downtown Dubai development, from September 19.

The decision was made after the management received several complaints from residents on disturbances and related inconveniences.

Read more: Emaar says Downtown Dubai will stop all holiday home rentals

Also read: Are holiday homes gaining popularity in Dubai?