Dubai – 6th Most Expensive City on Airbnb

Bloomberg’s World Airbnb Cost Index ranked more than 100 cities for the average cost for two people, Dubai came in at $168, more expensive than New York $152 and London $143. Rio was the most expensive cities at $206, although this is likely due to the prices increases for the Olympics, when the survey was carried out. Airbnb in Dubai has doubled in popularity over the past year, with twice as many people supposedly using the online service.

In a new Bloomberg index released Wednesday, Rio de Janeiro lodging on Airbnb cost $206 per day on average, exceeding that of No. 2 Miami and No. 3 San Francisco. A stay in a private Rio dwelling was more than twice as costly as Paris, according to the index of global cities with at least 100 local listings. It took average prices for two blocks of time that are six months apart and include part of the Olympics. Data were collected between May 1 to May 10, 2016.

In a contrarian move to Dubai where the number of hotels doubled only during the past six or seven years, Rio has a famously limited hotel stock. Many hospitality companies have scurried to open new hotels just to meet demand from Olympic delegations, leaving limited options for the hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists expected to travel for the Games. Alternative lodging providers have tried to scoop up the rest of the Olympic travelers.

At $242 a night, Rio is the world’s seventh most expensive city to stay in a hotel, according to Bloomberg World Hotel Index, which was updated Wednesday and is based on Expedia data for double-occupancy rooms for two adults, regardless of star rating. When compared to the hotel index for the same period, the Airbnb price translates into just a 15 percent discount. Across all Latin American cities tracked by Bloomberg, the average discount is 42 percent, with Airbnb bookings in Mexico City beating hotels by 75 percent.

Airbnb said that of the 66,000 guest arrivals that are already confirmed between Aug. 3 and 23rd — essentially the Olympic period, plus two days before and after — average rates were $165 per night for a mean of three people.

Other notably expensive Airbnb destinations in the index include Kuwait City and Dubai, while Mexico City; Bangalore, India; and Jakarta were the cheapest, with average rates of $32, $37 and $38, respectively. Fewer than 1/10th of cities surveyed had rates that exceeded 2.5 times their countries’ daily per capita gross domestic product. Noted exceptions include Lagos, Nigeria, at 8.53 times; Accra, Ghana, at 6.08 times; and Rio at 5.02 times.