How Vacationer Dubai Scaled to 320 Listings by Centralizing Operations with Hostaway

At a glance

• Company: Vacationer Dubai

• CEO: Harrison Moore

• Founded: 2022

• Team: 29 members

• Portfolio: 320 listings, from studios to 5-bedroom villas

• Headquarters: Dubai, UAE

• Started with Hostaway: 4+ years. irFst used Hostaway at a previous company, then chose Hostaway again for Vacationer Dubai in 2022

• Key result: Scaled to 320 listings on a single platform, with one team member able to cover multiple roles

• Website: vacationerdubai.com

The Mistake He Refused to Make Twice  

Harrison Moore didn't stumble into short-term rentals. By the time he founded Vacationer Dubai in 2022, he was already a veteran of the industry, and he'd already lived through exactly the kind of growth story he was determined not to repeat.

At his previous company, scaling the business meant scaling the chaos. Multiple logins. Different platforms. Messages scattered everywhere. Bookings that had to be double-checked. Human error creeping in at every turn. 

And the cruel irony of it all? The bigger the operation got, the worse it became. 

 "The bigger you get, the more complex it becomes, and complexity slows down growth." — Harrison Moore, CEO of Vacationer Dubai

To patch the gaps, the team cobbled together what Harrison describes as various "bits and bobs," a patchwork of software tools that made every single task a manual one. Need something done? Hire a person to do just that thing. It wasn't a business. It was a treadmill.

So when it came time to build Vacationer Dubai, Harrison wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

Building On The Right Foundation From Day One 

In 2022, Harrison launched Vacationer Dubai with a clear-eyed mission: build a short-term rental company that could grow fast without falling apart at the seams. Backed by a team with deep roots in Dubai real estate and the short-term rental market, Vacationer Dubai is a licensed property management and real estate company under the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

Today it's one of the largest short-term rental operators in Dubai with a 29-person team, and a growing portfolio of over 320 listings that spans everything from homely studios to lavish 5-bedroom villas. Whether guests are after a quick romantic escape or a long-term home away from home, Vacationer Dubai has it covered.

But none of that growth happened by accident. It happened because Harrison got the foundations right.

No Lengthy Search Required

When it came to choosing a property management system, Harrison already knew what a bad one looked like. He'd watched his previous company shop around, layer platform upon platform, and end up with a fragmented, manual mess. He wasn't going to do that again.

This time, the answer was clear before the search even began: Hostaway.

The logic was straightforward: Hostaway could bring everything under one roof. And that changed the entire staffing equation. Instead of needing a dedicated person for every individual role, one team member with Hostaway could handle multiple responsibilities efficiently. Less overhead. Less complexity. More room to grow.

• 320 Active listings

• 29 Team members

• 1 Platform for everything

One Login. One Inbox. One Place For Everything.

Today, Vacationer Dubai runs its entire operation through Hostaway, and the difference is hard to overstate. Listing integration, pricing management, guest communications, markup adjustments, owner statements, financial reporting, and a real-time owner portal. All of it, in one place.

The unified inbox alone transformed how the team handles guest communication. No more jumping between platforms, missed messages, or wondering whether a guest has been replied to. Everything is visible, manageable, and, more importantly, trackable.

And owners aren't left in the dark either. With Hostaway's owner portal, every property owner can log in and see their calendar in real time. No chasing, no manual updates, no awkward calls asking what's booked and what isn't.

"Hostaway brings for us a true all-in-one solution. It's very, very easy to use. It brings everything under one roof, listing integration, pricing, guest communication, a unified inbox, owner statements, financial reporting. One person can now take on multiple different roles with the internal powers that Hostaway brings." — Harrison Moore, CEO, Vacationer Dubai

Before Hostaway (previous company) vs. After Hostaway (Vacationer Dubai)

The Lesson? Centralize Early.

Harrison's advice to other property managers is the kind that only comes from hard-won experience: don't wait until the chaos forces your hand. Centralize early, before the complexity compounds and the workarounds become load-bearing.

Vacationer Dubai is living proof. Because Harrison built on the right foundation from day one, the business could scale from zero to 320 listings without the wheels ever coming off. The systems grew with the business, not against it.

In a market as fast-moving and competitive as Dubai, that's not just good operations. It's a genuine edge.

Company details

• Name: Vacationer Dubai

• Location: Dubai, UAE

• Markets: Dubai short-term and long-term rentals

• Contact: info@vacationerdubai.com

FAQs

Why did Vacationer Dubai CEO Harrison Moore choose Hostaway? 

Harrison Moore had already experienced the cost of not centralizing early at a previous company, where multiple logins, scattered messaging, and a patchwork of disconnected tools slowed growth and required a dedicated person for almost every task. Having used Hostaway before, he chose it again from day one when he founded Vacationer Dubai in 2022, so the vacation rental business would scale without repeating that chaos.

What results has Vacationer Dubai achieved with Hostaway? 

Vacationer Dubai has grown to a 29-person vacation rental  team managing over 320 listings, from studios to 5-bedroom villas, using Hostaway as its single operating platform. Centralizing on one system has meant one team member can now take on multiple roles instead of needing a dedicated hire for every task, reducing overhead and complexity.

What Hostaway features does Vacationer Dubai rely on most? 

Vacationer Dubai runs listing integration, pricing management, markup adjustments, guest communications, owner statements, and financial reporting all through Hostaway. Guest communication runs through the unified inbox, while property owners get real-time calendar visibility through the owner portal, both central to how the team operates day to day.

How does Hostaway help Vacationer Dubai manage relationships with property owners? 

Hostaway's owner portal gives every property owner real-time visibility into their calendar, removing the need for manual updates or check-in calls. Owner statements and financial reporting run through the same platform, keeping owner-facing tools centralized alongside everything else. 

What was Harrison Moore's experience before founding Vacationer Dubai? 

Harrison Moore is an industry veteran who, at a previous company, saw firsthand how scaling a vacation rental business on a patchwork of disconnected tools made growth harder rather than easier, since complexity increased with size. That experience directly shaped his decision to build Vacationer Dubai on a single, unified platform from the start.

What does Vacationer Dubai's portfolio include? 

Vacationer Dubai manages a portfolio of over 320 vacation rental listings in Dubai, ranging from homely studios to lavish 5-bedroom villas, serving guests looking for both short romantic getaways and longer-term stays. The company is a licensed property management and real estate business under the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).