TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
Dubai-based start up, Blueground is an international corporate hospitality industry disruptor with over 150 fully-furnished rental apartments in various popular areas in Dubai. Amine Housni, Co-founder and Head, Blueground, UAE, tells TravTalk about its recent expansion in New York and future plans.
SHEHARA RIZLY
Q) Please shed light on this new venture for travellers. Blueground is an internationally-awarded techbacked hospitality company with presence in Dubai, Istanbul, New York and Athens. We offer furnished and equipped apartments to business travellers, for durations of one month or longer. Our specialisation is in corporate travel, covering the needs of both individual travellers and companies that look for accommodation for their executives. Currently, we operate more than 180 high-quality apartments in some of the most popular areas of Dubai including City Walk, the Marina, JBR, DIFC, Downtown, etc. Globally, we have reached 700 rental apartments.
Q) What was the concept behind starting something of this nature?
We lease brand new or fully renovated properties from their owners, upgrade and convert them into best-in-class rentals, especially designed to meet the needs of modern business travellers. With the help of our in-house developed technology, we have managed to automate all aspects of our business, significantly simplifying the booking process among others. We have also launched a mobile app for guests to enhance their experience so that they can find important information about their property like access to WiFi, extra services, locating important points of interest in the neighbourhood and many more. This business model helps us to hold a cost and a convenience differentiation compared to hotels and other serviced apartments of comparable quality.
Blueground was born out of one of the co-founders experience as a management consultant. He stayed in various hotels in Europe, Africa and Asia for stretches of 1 to 12 months at a time for more than five years. After extensive research, we found out that the business traveller and expat accommodation market globally is huge, estimated at $135 billion. We spotted a gap in the accommodation market and decided to fill it in the best possible way.
Q) Who is the target audience? Where are they from?
We target two main groups—corporate clients who handle accommodation for their personnel and individual business travellers as well as freelancers, athletes and artists who need accommodation for themselves, for mid to long-term duration. To date, we have welcomed more than 3000 guests from all over the world.
Q) What are the reasons to target business travellers? Business travellers are a notoriously demanding group to serve. Modern business travellers need an accommodation solution that is reliable, flexible and with very high service levels. Also, they look for efficiency in processes, including an easy-to-follow online booking process, instant customer support etc. At Blueground, we are in the position to serve them as anybody else. Specifically, unlike hotels we offer larger spaces, full privacy, fully equipped kitchen, and a homely environment, while compared to traditional serviced apartments operators, we offer ongoing guest support, high-tech amenities and modern apartments. Our prices are 30-50 per cent lower as compared to hotels and other serviced apartments of similar standards.
Q) Is there any benefit to agents as well?
For the agents, either from relocation, travel or recruiting agencies, we can be their trusted partner, ensuring to meet their travellers’ needs in the best possible way. When an agent comes to us, they know they have nothing to worry about. We work with many agents from the region and abroad, while receiving more and more requests everyday.
