A growing number of residents and nationals in the United Arab Emirates are choosing ‘staycations’, even during the months of summer, according to internal data from Airbnb.

According to the online platform, between 22nd May and 22nd August, which is the peak travel season, there was a dramatic increase in the number of domestic travels and staycations for UAE nationals.

Earlier in 2019, the Airbnb website was launched in Arabic, with data showing the increasing popularity of Ras Al Khaimah as a tourist destination.

There was a 66% increase in the number of summer visitor stays year on year.

During the same period of time, there was an increase of as much as 59% in the number of stays experienced by Dubai.

The introduction of the Arabic language to the Airbnb site and app has resulted in an increase of guests from the Middle East and Africa to the UAE.

The highest-recorded foreign nationals to have booked their stays via the Airbnb platform are travellers from Saudi Arabia.

They were closely followed in second and third place by those from the US and the UK.

In fifth place in the list of visitors to the UAE by nation over the summer period was France, with the top ten being rounded out by India, China, Australia, Germany and Canada.

The accommodation marketplace on Airbnb provides a wide array of choices in terms of both accommodation and one-of-a-kind travel experiences to help travellers feel a part of local communities.

Around 10,000 available listings were recorded on the Airbnb platform at the start of 2019.

The UAE had hosted more than 140,000 visitors from all over the world, achieving the boost to tourism that the nation had wanted to achieve.

One of the most booked UAE experiences offered by Airbnb is a cultural walk around the Louvre in Abu Dhabi.

Another popular experience is a Chinese tea ceremony hosted by Tony and Master Eva.

Salsa lessons and a dance to the Hip Hop Cardio scene in Dubai were also both very popular bookings.

The UAE staycation trend comes after a memorandum of understanding was signed by Airbnb with Ras Al Khaimah in 2018 and with Dubai Tourism three years ago in 2016.

The memorandum was signed to encourage responsible hosting and standard industry practice in the emirate in order to increase tourism figures.

Anyone who is intending to travel within the UAE or beyond will need to take out travel insurance in order to do so.

Travel insurance is mandatory in the UAE.

Taking out a comprehensive travel insurance policy is very much to the benefit of the traveller – this is because travel insurance offers financial protection from unexpected events that can happen during travel and when away from home.

These events can include the likes of the accidents, illnesses, and the theft of personal property, and travel insurance can reduce the otherwise significant cost of such unwanted scenarios.

Author

Write A Comment