Rentokil, the global provider of pest-control services, is hoping a new treatment to zap bedbugs will help it stamp its mark in the Arabian Gulf.
The company has introduced new pest-control technology including a bedbug treatment system that uses heat rather than chemicals to kill invaders, and advises clients on reducing their use of chemicals.
Rentokil entered the UAE market at the end of last year after buying Totalai, an Abu Dhabi-based company. It had been eyeing the market before 2008 but put plans on hold after the financial crisis struck.
The Emirates "recovered very quickly [and] it's a key area for us," Rentokil's UAE general manager, James Nicholson, said. "The Middle East and South America are areas where we didn't have a significant presence. They are two growth markets we are interested in and that's why we've set up in both places."
Regionally, the London-listed company, operates in Libya and Turkey, and it is about to open for business in Saudi Arabia. The company estimates that the UAE pest control market is worth US$500 million (Dh1.83 billion) a year.
The increased regulation of the pest-control market by the authorities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai has also been a positive step because it encourages higher standards, Mr Nicholson said.
"That usually suits us as a company because we've got international standards, whether it be in manufacturing, hotels or simply just the requirements of domestic customers. People have comfort in the fact there is someone who knows what they are doing."
He described the pest-control market in Dubai as "very demanding" because of the high expectations people have when they visit the city's five-star hotels.
The transient population and the year-round warmth make the city an ideal candidate for bedbug problems, along with other international cities such as New York, London and Tokyo, Mr Nicholson said.
Nike had to temporarily close its flagship store in New York in 2010 after an outbreak of bedbugs. Google's Manhattan offices also suffered an infestation as did two Abercrombie & Fitch stores in New York.
A study by the US National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky found that bedbug infestations were on the rise. This was likely caused by the bugs' resistance to pesticides and the increase in international travel.
"Bedbugs globally is a huge problem," Mr Nicholson said.
"Here in the UAE ... inevitably when you have a large number of people travelling through any given area, any large city in the world, it's highly likely you are going to have a significant bedbug population."
Researchers at Rentokil's global technical centre have determined that the best way to control bedbugs is with heat because this exterminates not only the adults but also the eggs, which chemicals cannot kill.
"It's something we've launched here [and] particularly within the residential market it's been ever so popular," Mr Nicholson said.
"Even with the five-star hotels we've seen a significant uptake in treating their bedrooms because once it has been treated it can be released to the hotel guest straight away."
Other pest-control companies in the UAE are also planning to introduce heat treatment to control bedbug infestations, including National Pest Control, said the company's senior sales assistant, Doa Al Himsi.
Another aspect of pest control Rentokil will try to change in the UAE is the mostly futile quarterly spraying of chemicals in hotel rooms, for example, which aim to prevent bedbugs and cockroaches.
"There is really no value in a hotel having that done," he said. "Particularly for something like bedbugs, you can't do anything proactively. It's a reactive service.
