Dubai: Dine out in style or order a fast food takeout from a F&B outlet in Dubai during DSF 2014 and that would immediately raise your chances of winning a Dh350,000 raffle. This way, for the first time, the organisers of DSF are calling on Dubai’s burgeoning F&B sector to play a more direct role in the month-long promotions which open on January 2.
All it takes is for someone to spend a minimum of Dh100 at the outlet to avail of the ‘Dine & Win’ coupon which is then entered into the main draw. Participating F&B outlets will need to pay Dh3,000 to participate in the campaign, which targets both high-street locations as well as those within malls. More than 400 have already confirmed participation.
This is also a concerted move to broaden the scope of what DSF stands for. If all these years it was about the enhanced shopping experience Dubai can offer, now the focus is much on leisure and entertainment options the city can offer alongside. Within this space, the F&B sector serves up a good-sized portion.
“This DSF we have broadened the scope of activities in the retail sector and also encourage businesses that have not previously been involved to take advantage of the benefits of participating,” said Saeed Mohammad Mesam Al Falasi, director at the strategic alliances division, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, itself part of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
Raising the average spend
There had been attempts in the past to rope in the F&B sector into the DSF loop — “They weren’t as successful as would have been ideal and it could be that message was overwhelmingly on the shopper side of things,” said Baiju Kurieash, CEO of Buz Marketing, which is overseeing the promotion. “By keeping the coupon rate at Dh100, participating F&B outlets have an opportunity to upsell and thus raise the average spend per customer during the period.
“Moreover, this is a promotion that will have a pan-city feel to it and that’s vital to its success — a participating outlet can be located anywhere and unlike in shopping where, usually, it is clustered around certain prime and secondary destinations. This is about spreading the festival cheer to the widest possible audience, both domestic and among visitors.”
Along with retail, the F&B sector has been on fast-track growth in the last three years. This is being driven as much by local dining concepts as they are by international chains and their franchisees. Specialist F&B investment vehicles have been set up, a case in point being Diamond Lifestyle, part of Al Masah Capital, which recently acquired the local rights for Cafe Rouge, a UK-headquartered French bistro chain.
“We launched Diamond Lifestyle with the aim of becoming a key player operating a number of high-energy luxury restaurants and lounges in the GCC, Turkey and southeast Asia,” Amitava Ghosal, partner, Al Masah Capital, had said in a recent statement.
