UAE residents have renewed appetites for eating out

Dubai: UAE consumers spend on average Dh841 a month on dining out, the highest in the region, according to a recent survey conducted by MasterCard.

The UAE's average monthly spend tops other Middle Eastern countries including Qatar, which spends an average of Dh774 per month and Kuwait, which spends Dh719.

Other nations spend even less, including Lebanon with Dh385, Oman with Dh242 and Egypt with Dh139.

"The UAE is renowned for its world-class restaurants and its diverse array of cuisine offerings which cater to a wide range of ethnic groups and age brackets," said Eyad Al Kourdi, vice-president and country manager for the UAE at MasterCard.

"Consumers enjoy these lifestyle choices as indicated by the strong results for the dining segment in MasterCard's latest survey.

‘Positive outlook'

"This suggests a positive outlook for the UAE's hospitality sector."

This year sees a renewed appetite for eating out. Eleven per cent of UAE consumers said they were likely to eat out more in the latter half of 2011 compared to previous months.

However, consumers in Qatar look set to catch up with 41 per cent of respondents saying they are most likely to eat out in the same period.

The survey found that the biggest spenders in the UAE were those of 55 years and older, spending an average of Dh2,710 per month on eating out while 30 per cent spent Dh370 to 1,836 per month.

Food courts are the preferred dining outlets, with 88 per cent of the respondents visiting them in past months.

The next most frequented establishments are fast food restaurants and mid-range family restaurants followed by fine dining, standalone restaurants and fine dining within hotels.

Rishi Talwalker, associate account manager at Apco Worldwide, eats out around twice a week, mostly in casual dining restaurants, bars, cafes and shisha parlours.

"My wife and I spend up to Dh2,000 per month on dining out on the weekends, which is significantly higher than a year ago," he said.

"I am an avid foodie and love to try new cuisines and restaurants, but seldom go further than the 20km radius. I tend to stick to locations in new Dubai — and the farthest I go is Oasis Centre."

Roula Zainieh, another account executive at Apco, said she tends to eat out or order in a lot because of her lifestyle.

"I'm spending more this year since I joined my new job," she said.

"The reason for this would be my commute to Dubai. I live in Sharjah and so waking up early every day is a hassle.

"I almost always end up leaving in a rush because I snooze the alarm and therefore have no time to get food from home."

Heba Al Ayoubi, account manager at Mojo Group, has spent more this year on dining out compared to last year partly because of the new outlets that have opened recently. "My spending has increased given the new franchise and restaurants introduced every now and then," she said. "Also, some restaurants have increased their prices."

Cash still remains king with the majority of UAE consumers preferring currency over credit cards when paying for their meals overall. In hotels, however, 66 per cent of consumers opted for plastic.

Entertainment

Dining and entertainment remain a priority for consumers in the Middle East. Most respondents claimed they set aside 11 to 30 per cent of personal income for leisure activities.

Oman tops the Middle East in terms of proportion of monthly income spent on entertainment, an average of 20 per cent.

This is followed by Kuwait at 15 per cent, Lebanon at 14 per cent and UAE at 13 per cent.

The cinema is the most popular choice of entertainment outlet, especially among consumers aged 18 to 29 years. Amusement and theme parks are visited by nearly half of consumers.

For the second half of 2011, 65 per cent of UAE consumers predicted they would prefer the cinema, 47 per cent said amusement or theme parks would be their choice, while 32 per cent said health clubs. Other entertainment activities include shopping, food, surfing the web, sport and reading.

The survey period was conducted between March 15 and April 27 with 17,620 consumers from 25 markets.