Airbnb data reveals UAE summer staycation trends
UAE: According to Airbnb internal data, more and more UAE nationals and residents are preferring staycations, even during the summer season.
Between the peak season for travel over 22 May and 22 August, the online platform has highlighted the increase in the number of staycations and domestic travel for UAE nationals as the number one trend for the summer.
After Airbnb launched its website in the Arabic language earlier this year, the data revealed Ras Al Khaimah as an increasingly popular tourist destination with a 66 per cent rise in year-on-year summer visitor stays. At the same time, Dubai experienced 59 per cent growth over the same time period in terms of stays.
The introduction of the Arabic language to the website and its app has encouraged more guests from the MENA (Middle East & Africa) region to the UAE. Saudi Arabian travellers are the highest recorded nationals from abroad to book stays on the Airbnb platform, with the United States and the United Kingdom just behind in the list.
The list of visitors to the UAE by country of booking over the summer period is as follows:
- United Arab Emirates
- Saudi Arabia
- United States
- United Kingdom
- France
- India
- China
- Australia
- Germany
- Canada
Airbnb’s accommodation marketplace offers a diverse range of accommodations and unique experiences for travellers to integrate into their local communities.
At the start of the year, Airbnb recorded around 10,000 available listings on its platform, while the country had hosted over 145,000 visitors from around the world, boosting the tourism statistics that the UAE had set out to improve.
Some of the most-booked Airbnb Experiences in the UAE include:
- A cultural walk: Louvre in Abu Dhabi
- Tea ceremony: Chinese tea ceremony with Tony and Master Eva
- Dance lesson: salsa in Dubai
- Dance party: dance to Dubai’s Hip Hop Cardio scene
The trend for staycations in UAE follows on from Airbnb signing a memorandum of understanding [MoU] with Dubai Tourism [DTCM] in 2016 and Ras Al Khaimah in 2018 to encourage standard industry practice and responsible hosting within the Emirates to further boost tourism figures.
For more information, visit the Airbnb website here.
