Bar business brisk while restaurants struggle

Bars are meeting budget targets, while restaurants across Dubai struggle, according to a group of F&B directors from the emirate.

The directors, speaking at Caterer Middle East’s May roundtable on hotel outlets, noted that they were relying on local customers more often, despite their perceived lack of loyalty to one particular outlet.

Radisson SAS Dubai Deira Creek beverage director Sid King said: “Beverage outlets are doing surprisingly well — I guess the joke is people still need to drown their sorrows — beverage outlets are staying on budget, while food outlets have dropped a little behind.”

Park Hyatt Dubai director of food and beverage Michael Allegra commented: “I think we’re all surviving because of our local guests to be honest.”

He noted, however, that Dubai could be “a very finicky city” adding that customers were not loyal to particular outlets.

Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort and Towers director food and beverage Mario Magalhaes added to the sentiment, stating that it was “probably more difficult to achieve food budgets than beverage budgets”.

“If you look at most hotels, they have lowered prices in regards to their food menus, but few to none have lowered their drinks prices,” he said.

Park Hyatt’s Allegra suggested that the slowdown in restaurant business, meant targeting and maintaining visits from local guests has now become a priority.

“Our locally-altered programmes are big business — it’s not just about giving discounts, but giving something back to the customer, whether it’s through special events or inviting them back for dinner with the hotel executives,” said Allegra.

Radisson’s King agreed stating: “We rely on our local clientele — we have ten outlets, three bars and only 270 rooms; that mass doesn’t add up so we really depend on the local population.”

For the full round up from the roundtable see May’s issue of Caterer Middle East.