What I tell anyone who asks about opening a hospitality business in Dubai
This piece was originally shared on LinkedIn in response to recurring conversations with founders and leadership teams around this topic.
I’m publishing it here as part of an ongoing body of thinking around restaurant strategy, market entry, and operational decision-making.
Plan for the unknown. Seasonality here operates differently than anywhere else I've worked. In London, summer might drop 20% before Christmas brings things back up. In Dubai, November can be your busiest month and August your quietest - but the differential can be enormous.
Your first year will be the hardest because you don't know your rhythm yet. Build conservative forecasts and prepare contingencies for both peaks and troughs you can't predict.
Revenue management becomes critical. High-volume months need to carry the quieter ones. Strong P&L discipline isn't just good practice here - it's essential for navigating the seasonal swings.
Labour works differently. Salaried full-time work means crucial consideration of holiday planning and offering extended seasonal leave options.
Transparency with relocations. Over-communicate about everything - tips, living costs, local expectations. It’s better to be conservative upfront than deal with surprises later.
Strong local expertise. Regulations, visas, and applications are all very different to the UK and US markets. Building strong, trusted partnerships with local expertise can reduce complexities and unforeseen challenges.
The opportunities in the UAE are significant, but they require local knowledge and a deep understanding of how this market works.
Since first sharing this, I’ve seen the same issue surface repeatedly — particularly with businesses entering new markets or scaling too quickly. The underlying challenge is rarely strategy itself, but how early decisions constrain execution later.