Dubai Tourism launches holiday home regulations
Dubai has announced a set of standards and regulations that residents and operators must adhere to if they wish to lease out holiday homes in the emirate.
The move is part of Dubai’s objective to further diversify and increase its hospitality offering in line with its vision to attract 20 million visitors to the emirate by 2020.
The regulations outlined in Executive Resolution 3/2015, will bring the Holiday Home segment in line with Dubai’s wider and best in class hotel and hotel apartment guidelines, detail specific criteria that home owners need to meet to apply for a licence, including quality standards, amenities, health and safety, insurance necessities, code of conduct, and wider community integration.
Home owners are also required to use a Dubai Tourism licensed operator to rent out their homes, who are accountable for ensuring the property meets all legislative requirements and complaint management policies, are sufficiently maintained and amenities and guest services provided for and are accurately listed to visitors.
Operating requirements
The regulations also stipulate specific requirements for operators to adhere to in order to obtain their licence, further building market confidence in the sector though internationally-aligned governance. Dubai Tourism will regularly inspect registered homes, which are classified as Standard or Deluxe depending on their offering, to maintain standards and issue penalties for non-compliance to regulatory demands.
Khaled Bin Touq, Executive Director, Licensing and Classification Sector at Dubai Tourism, said: “The decision to regulate the Holiday Home sector was designed to broaden the range of options available to visitors while ensuring high standards of quality are maintained.
“Visitors booking their accommodation through licensed operators will have the assurance that their accommodation has been classified in line with global best practices, while owners of properties will benefit from the expertise and marketing capabilities of the operator through who they rent out their property.”
He added: “The Holiday Home market is a key facet to us achieving our long-term visitor goals in addition to delivering the right accommodation mix that is extremely well regulated and attractive to the diverse needs of travellers. Further, these regulations empower building management companies, developers and home associations to be an active player in ensuring the quality of Dubai’s Holiday Home offering, driving a mutually beneficial increase of the emirates overall destination competiveness and appeal.”
