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How to Start a Short Term Accommodation Activities Business in Dubai with Meydan Free Zone
Short-term accommodation is the physical infrastructure of global tourism and business travel: the hotels, apartment hotels, guesthouses, holiday homes, and niche stays that house visitors for days or weeks rather than months or years. In the UAE, this sector operates at a scale and quality level that places the country among the world’s leading hospitality destinations. The UAE hospitality market reached USD 23.9 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 37.7 billion by 2033 at a CAGR of 5.2%, according to IMARC Group¹. Hotel establishment revenues across the UAE reached AED 24.6 billion in the first half of 2024 alone, a 7% year-on-year increase, against a hotel occupancy rate of 79.5%, among the highest globally, according to the UAE Ministry of Economy².
The UAE Tourism Strategy 2031 sets ambitious national targets: a sector contribution of AED 450 billion to GDP and 40 million annual visitors to hotel establishments by the end of the decade. The strategy is supported by a combination of destination development, visa liberalisation, major events, and infrastructure investment. In the first half of 2024, hotel guests across all seven UAE emirates reached 15.3 million, a 10.5% year-on-year increase, with Abu Dhabi recording a 22% surge in hotel guest numbers in Q1 2024 and Ras Al Khaimah emerging as the UAE’s fastest-growing hospitality market. Average daily rates in the UAE stood 24.9% above 2019 pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2024, according to CBRE³.
Activity code 5510.00 under Meydan Free Zone is the parent code for Short Term Accommodation Activities, covering the full range of ISIC class 5510 accommodation formats: hotels, resort hotels, suite and apartment hotels, motels, motor hotels, guesthouses, pensions, bed and breakfast units, visitor flats and bungalows, time-share units, holiday homes, chalets and housekeeping cottages, and youth hostels. As a parent code, it applies broadly across all qualifying short-term accommodation activities within the class and does not limit to a single format. The class expressly excludes accommodation provided on a monthly or annual basis for more permanent residential use. No third-party pre-approval is required.
Who is this for?
| Audience Segment | Profile |
|---|---|
| Hotel, resort and branded accommodation operators | Operators of hotels, resort hotels, suite hotels, and branded accommodation properties providing short-term stay for business and leisure visitors, including full-service and limited-service formats across luxury, upscale, mid-market, and economy segments, with or without ancillary food, beverage. |
| Apartment hotels and serviced accommodation operators | Operators of apartment hotels, suite hotels, serviced apartments, and self-contained furnished short-term accommodation units providing kitchen-equipped accommodation typically appealing to longer short-stays, extended business visitors, families. |
| Guesthouses, holiday homes and niche accommodation operators | Operators of guesthouses, bed and breakfast units, holiday homes, chalets, time-share units, visitor flats, youth hostels, and other niche short-term accommodation formats providing furnished accommodation on a daily or weekly basis to visitors. |
5510.00 - Short Term Accommodation Activities
| Category | Scope |
|---|---|
| Hotels and resort hotels | Hotels, resort hotels and branded accommodation Operation of hotels and resort hotels providing daily or weekly short-stay accommodation to visitors in furnished guest rooms and suites, with ancillary services that may include food and beverage, parking, laundry, swimming pools, exercise rooms, recreational facilities, and conference and convention facilities. |
| Suite hotels and serviced apartment accommodation | Suite hotels, apartment hotels and serviced accommodation Operation of suite hotels, apartment hotels, and self-contained furnished short-term accommodation units with kitchen facilities and either daily or periodic housekeeping, providing flexible short-stay accommodation for business travellers, extended-stay visitors, and guests requiring apartment-style amenities. |
| Guesthouses, holiday homes and niche formats | Guesthouses, holiday homes, chalets and niche accommodation Operation of guesthouses, bed and breakfast units, pensions, holiday homes, time-share units, visitor flats, chalets, housekeeping cottages, cabins, and youth hostels providing furnished short-stay accommodation on a daily or weekly basis to visitors, typically offering a more personal or distinctive character than branded hotel properties. |
Code 5510.00 covers the provision of furnished short-stay accommodation, typically on a daily or weekly basis, for visitors. It expressly excludes the provision of homes and furnished or unfurnished flats or apartments for more permanent use, typically on a monthly or annual basis (ISIC 6820). It also does not cover residential property sales or development (ISIC 4100), property management services (ISIC 6820), food and beverage services operated independently rather than ancillary to accommodation (ISIC division 56), travel agency and tour operator services (ISIC 7911–7912), or facilities management services (ISIC 8110). In the UAE, operators providing accommodation must also comply with applicable emirate-level tourism licensing requirements, including Dubai Tourism and Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development hospitality registration, which are separate from the Meydan Free Zone licence.
In short: if you provide furnished short-stay accommodation for visitors on a daily or weekly basis in any format from hotel to holiday home, you are in. If you provide longer-term residential accommodation, manage properties for others, or operate independent food and beverage services, you are not.
Third-Party Approval
Short Term Accommodation Activities does not require pre-approval from any third-party regulatory authority as a condition of the Meydan Free Zone licence, and the licence may be issued directly without external sign-off prior to commencing short-term accommodation activities.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
Short Term Accommodation Activities is not classified as a Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession (DNFBP) under UAE anti-money laundering legislation, and businesses operating under this activity code are not subject to AML registration or reporting obligations specific to this licence category.
References
- ¹ IMARC Group, UAE Hospitality Market Size, Share, Growth and Forecast 2033 - https://www.imarcgroup.com/uae-hospitality-market
- ² UAE Ministry of Economy, UAE Tourism Sector H1 2024, Hotel Establishment Revenues AED 24.6 Billion - https://www.moet.gov.ae/en/-/ministry-of-economy-uae-tourism-sector-witnesses-steady-growth-with-hotel-establishment-revenues-increasing-by-7-per-cent-to-reach-aed-24.6-billion-in-h1-2024
- ³ CBRE UAE, UAE Hospitality Market Review Q1 2024 - https://www.cbre.ae/press-releases/uae-hospitality-market-review-q1-2024
- ⁴ Mordor Intelligence, Hospitality Industry in UAE, Market Share, Statistics and Growth Forecasts - https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/hospitality-industry-in-the-united-arab-emirates
- ⁵ Fortune Business Insights, MENA Hospitality Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis 2032 - https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/mena-hospitality-market-110062
