Saleh Bin Lahej Group hospitality division president Osama Salhin.
F&B operators needn’t fear a slowdown this summer, according to one of the region’s major F&B outlet franchisees.
Speaking exclusively to HME.com, Saleh Bin Lahej Group’s hospitality division president Osama Salhin asserted: “We don’t think summer will be tough.
“A lot of people were afraid of what might happen this summer, but information from our sources suggests that summer in Dubai will be very busy this year.
“People want to travel less, because of swine flu; then there is also the shopping festival on; hotel reservations are higher than expected; and on airlines it’s hard to find a seat,” he continued.
“So things are looking positive for the summer so far. June has been very good for us, with business pretty much on a par with last year.”
Speaking at the opening of the group’s two new outlets in Dubai Mall — Chili’s and Romano’s Macaroni Grill — Salhin said he was “extremely confident” about the two outlets, despite the current economic gloom generated by the financial downturn.
“When the international financial crisis hit, everybody got all panicked about business. That started in around November 2008 up to today — and over that period we have only lost about 10% of our sales compared to last year. That’s a fairly low number, certainly not what I would call a huge drop,” he noted.
“And let’s not forget that commodities prices and rents also went down, so when you take these factors into consideration our profits are actually better than last year, because operating costs are getting less.
“Basically we feel that there’s no need to panic,” he continued.
“If you are offering the right product, if you are giving people the value they are looking for and not taking business for granted, then that will pay off and customers will keep coming back.”
Salhin confirmed the group would be focusing on developing the Romano’s brand still further.
“We are the franchisees for Romano’s in the UAE, Oman and Egypt, and we plan to keep developing this brand,” he explained.
“We also have plans to add more brands to our portfolio; we have opened Cantina Laredo in Abu Dhabi already and we are going to open in Mirdif City Centre as well; and we have other openings coming up, since we represent 12 brands across the whole of the GCC.
“We have actually also got a very high-end steakhouse concept to come online,” Salhin revealed.
“However we feel that now is not the right time to launch that particular concept, so we’re just focusing on the casual dining for now.”
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