EXPENSIVE AIRBNB CITIES

MIDDLE EAST takes five spots near the top of Bloomberg Index. But for bargain hunters, India offers short-term rentals at $34.

Sunbathing in Tel Aviv or hitting Dubai's fabulous malls will set you back a bit more lately. A combination of high hotel and apartment costs and strong tourism in some Middle Eastern cities among the world's priciest.

Middle East Climbs : In the latest Bloomberg index, Miami and Boston took the top two spots in the average daily cost of lodging in private dwellings for the second straight year.

Airbnb owner asked for $205 a night and $195 a night, respectively, in the two cities. However, the Middle East has been climbing in the annual index and this year has five destinations among the top 15 priciest global cities :

Tel Aviv and Dubai at Nos. 4 and 5, and Jerusalem, Riyadh and Kuwait City also near the top.

City of Gold : Dubai's expensive short-term rentals, averaging $185 a night in Bloomberg's index, probably are a function of high hotel rates  in the  Emirati city, where more than 70 percent of hotel rooms are four star or above, said Ivana Gazovoda Vucinic of the international real estate firm   Chestertons.

Dubai's supply of Airbnb units more than doubled to 3,249 units in the two years ended August 2017, following a relaxing of government regulations, according to Vucinic's research on Dubai's short-term rental market.

Dubai has spent billions to pump up its tourism sector and hopes to attract  20 million visitors to the city by 2020, up from 15.8 million  visitors last year, according to figures from Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing .

Two U.A.E. sponsored Airlines, Emirates and Etihad Airways PISC have been among the world's  fastest growing carriers in recent years.

Should Dubai reach the 20 million visitor goal, it will be among the top five most visited cities globally, according to market research firm Euromonitor. [Agencies].