Out of Dubai’s total count of F&B establishments, 1,400 are still not utilising the marketing tools at their finger tips.
The figures were quoted by Debra Greenwood, director of the Dubai Food Festival, DTCM, during her keynote address at The Big F&B Forum.
Focussing on the importance of Dubai’s F&B scene in the international marketing of the emirate to tourists, she called on all Dubai’s 6,700 F&B establishments to join in the marketing campaign.
With specific focus on social media, she said: “People who are yet to visit Dubai are unaware of the world class cuisine on offer. Our role as a tourism authority is to increase awareness, through social media, international journalists and word of mouth.
“As proven through the reach of sites like Trip Advisor, all restaurants need to be active and visible on these platforms,” she added.
While Dubai ranks ahead of destinations such as Istanbul, the UK ad France, currently, according to data gathered by DTCM, 5,300 of Dubai’s total 6,700 F&B establishments are visible across various social media platforms.
Advising restauranteurs on how to approach the task, she continued: “Creating distinctive moments and engaging content is key to showcasing the cuisine scene. Dubai tourism offers familiarisation tours for visitors, journalists and bloggers, which includes dining in local Emirati homes, tasting street food or enjoying international restaurants.”
Reversing the benefits, it was also noted that listing F&B options on social media also provides a research platform to discover more about the preferences of different nationalities.
Dubai Food Festival will be held from February 25 – March 12, 2016.
