From hanging tables to underwater lounges, many of the roughly 13,000 food and beverage establishments in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, have been doing everything they can to attract customers in one of the world's most saturated food markets.
Restaurants cater to every taste and budget. Some places serve cheap paella, while others are willing to offer dishes covered in gold.
Diversifying cuisine according to tourists' needs is the way this emirate has been doing to promote tourism development.
Dubai now has more restaurants per capita than any major city except Paris.
With many restaurants booming in the city, the growth-at-all-costs model is raising questions about how long Dubai can sustain its ambitions?
According to SCMP, in the context of fierce competition, successful implementation will be the key to development.
“Gone are the days when it was all about good taste,” says Kym Barter, general manager of Atlantis The Palm, a resort set on a man-made archipelago that boasts more Michelin stars than any other location in the Middle East.
Dubai food bloggers are always impressing with millions of followers on social media.
Here, to stay afloat, restaurants will have to contend with high rents and attract a diverse and demanding consumer base over the long term.
One of nine foreign residents in Dubai is an Emirati citizen. Most of the city's private sector workers are immigrants on temporary contracts.
Tourists here outnumber locals by five to one, and they spend lavishly, according to global restaurant consultant Aaron Allen. Visitors to Dubai spend an average of five times more than those traveling to neighboring Saudi Arabia or even the United States, he said.
Dubai is “on track” to becoming the culinary capital of the world, according to Torsten Vildgaard, Executive Chef at FZN by Bjorn Frantzen.
The restaurant is more than $540 per person, and is one of two restaurants costs in Dubai to receive three Michelin stars in May.
Culinary "bubble"
With each new high-rise building and hotel that lights up, a new crop of restaurants appear and compete for customers.
That growth, driven in part by pressure from developers to expand in Dubai, has created what some analysts warn is a "food bubble."
The "frenzied" expansion of Dubai's restaurant industry is part of a changing culinary landscape in the region.
Over the past years, Gulf Arab states have poured hundreds of billions of dollars into building tourist destinations to promote economic diversification.
For example, Saudi Arabia has a $500 billion project: a high-tech futuristic city called Neom.
In addition, to stimulate tourism, the United Arab Emirates has eased some new regulations such as easing restrictions on alcohol as well as other social reforms.
This rapid growth needs to be re-examined. Observers say Dubai restaurants have a high rate of rude business, although there is no specific rate of closure.
In downtown and other prime areas, annual restaurant rents can reach as high as $100 per square foot, a figure that rivals some of the world's most expensive cities.
Still, according to Dubai's Ministry of Economy and Tourism, the emirate has issued 1,200 licenses to business owners to open new restaurants by 2024.
Empty tables during peak hours are common, even in prime locations. Managers say heavy traffic congestion is part of the problem.
“Sometimes I wonder, 'Should I go to the restaurant now, because there's always traffic?'” said Waseem Abdul Hameed, CEO at Ravi, a popular Pakistani family-owned restaurant.
Many restaurant owners have closed and are under pressure on tight profit margins, making them increasingly reliant on delivery apps, Mr Hameed said .
Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/du-lich/am-thuc-cua-dubai-dang-bung-no-mat-kiem-soat-150284.html
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