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How Dubai Restaurants Should Use Email Marketing to Beat the Summer Slump
- Apr 3
- 8 min read
Updated: Apr 3
Topic: Email Marketing, Customer Retention, Restaurant Marketing
TL; DR:
Dubai restaurants lose up to 50% of revenue in summer, but most ignore their highest-ROI channel: Email marketing ($36 return per $1 spent). They're already sitting on customer data from POS and reservation systems. The fix: a simple 5-email sequence from May to September that targets residents still in town, pushes direct delivery orders (avoiding app commissions), rewards loyal customers, and builds anticipation for the autumn comeback. Start building the list now, not when summer hits.
Every restaurant owner in Dubai knows the feeling. May arrives, the temperature climbs past 40°C, and the covers start dropping. Expats fly home. Tourists disappear. Foot traffic thins out. But the rent doesn't. Neither do the salaries, the DEWA bills, or the delivery commissions eating into whatever revenue is left.
Revenue in some Dubai F&B outlets can fall by as much as 50% during the summer months. And for restaurants that depend on terrace seating or tourist footfall, the hit can be even harder. The seasonality isn't new. But the way most restaurants respond to it is still broken.
The default playbook is to cut.
Cut marketing. Cut staff hours. Cut the menu.
Wait for October and hope the winter crowd comes back hungry.
There's a better move. And it's sitting inside the systems that most restaurants already pay for.
The Channel Most Dubai Restaurants Are Ignoring
Here's the thing about email marketing: it doesn't sound exciting. It doesn't trend on TikTok. Nobody's making a reel about their open rates.
But the numbers are hard to argue with.
Email marketing returns an average of $36 for every $1 spent. Compare that to Instagram ads at roughly $8 or X ads at under $3. For a restaurant with an existing customer base, email isn't just the highest-ROI digital channel, it's the highest-ROI channel, full stop.
For reference, back in 2024, personalised automated emails in the restaurant industry were generating 12 times more revenue per send than generic mass blasts. That's not a marginal improvement. That's a different league.
The reason email works so well for restaurants is simple. You're not reaching cold audiences. You're reaching people who have already eaten your food, sat at your tables, and chosen to come back. These are warm contacts. The kind of people who will actually act on what you send, when you send them relevant things.
Which brings us to the part most Dubai restaurants get wrong.
You Already Have the Data. You're Just Not Using It.
If you're running a restaurant in Dubai, you're almost certainly sitting on a goldmine of customer data you've never touched for marketing purposes.
Your POS system knows what people order, how much they spend, and how often they visit. Your reservation platform, whether it's SevenRooms, OpenTable, or even a Google Sheet, has names, email addresses, dining preferences, and party sizes. If you run a loyalty programme or a delivery operation, you've got even more.
Most of this data just sits there. It gets used for operations. Maybe for accounting. But almost never for marketing.
That's the gap. And summer is exactly the right time to close it.
You don't need a sophisticated CRM to start. You need three things: a clean email list pulled from the systems you already have, a simple email platform (Mailchimp, Brevo, Klaviyo, etc.), and a basic plan for what to send and when.
Let's talk about that plan.
A Simple Summer Email Flow That Actually Works
The mistake most restaurants make with email is treating it like a megaphone. One blast to the entire list. "20% off this weekend!" Sent to everyone. Opened by almost no one.
A better approach is a structured flow, a short sequence of emails, spaced out across the summer, each with a specific purpose. Here's what that looks like for a Dubai restaurant heading into June.
Email 1: The Early Summer Hook (Late May)
This goes out before the slump hits. The goal is to plant the idea that your restaurant is the place to be this summer. Not despite the heat, but because of it. Lead with your summer menu, a new indoor dining experience, or an exclusive offer for loyal guests. Frame it as something they get first, before anyone else. Because they're on your list. Because they've been before.
This is where your subject line does the heavy lifting. More on that shortly.
Email 2: The Resident Play (Mid-June)
By mid-June, the tourists are dwindling and a big chunk of the expat community has left for annual leave. But a huge number of residents are still here. Long-term expats who can't take an extended leave. Local families. Regional visitors escaping even hotter climates next door. These people are looking for things to do. And restaurants that speak directly to them, win their attention.
This email should feel personal. Acknowledge that the city is quieter. Lean into it. Position a midweek dinner deal or a "beat the heat" lunch special with indoor seating. Make the offer feel like it was made for the people still here.
Email 3: The Delivery and Takeaway Push (July)
July and August are peak delivery months in Dubai. People want restaurant-quality food. They just don't want to leave their air-conditioned apartments to get it. If you're on Deliveroo or Talabat, this is the email where you promote it. But with a twist. Offer something exclusive for direct orders. A free side. A dessert. A discount code that doesn't go through a third-party platform and its 20-30% commission. This isn't just a marketing play. It's a margin play.
Email 4: The Loyalty Reward (August)
By August, the people still opening your emails are your most engaged customers. Reward them. A complimentary starter on their next visit. Early access to your new autumn menu. A personal thank-you from the chef. This isn't about driving a single transaction. It's about making sure that when October comes, and the city fills back up, your regulars are still your regulars.
Email 5: The "We're Back" Teaser (Early September)
September is the transition month. People start returning. Energy picks up. This email is your signal that something new is coming. Think of a refreshed menu, an event, a reopened terrace. Build anticipation. Give them a reason to book before the October rush makes it harder to get a table.
Subject Lines That Actually Get Opened in Dubai
The subject line is the only part of your email that matters if nobody opens it. Here are five that are tailored to the way Dubai diners think during summer.
"Still here this summer? So are we. And we made something new." This works because it speaks directly to residents who haven't left. It's personal. It implies exclusivity.
"Your apartment has AC. So does our dining room. Come eat." Conversational, a little funny, and directly addresses the main barrier to dining out in July.
"Skip the Talabat fee, order direct and get dessert on us." A clear value proposition that also protects your margins. People respond to this because the delivery app commissions are a known frustration for diners too.
"We saved you a table on Wednesday. Seriously." Midweek bookings are the hardest to fill in summer. A personal-feeling nudge works better than a generic discount.
"New summer menu just dropped. You're seeing it first." Exclusivity and novelty in one line. This only works if you're actually sending it to your email list before you post it on Instagram.
How to Know If It's Working
You don't need a data science team to measure your email campaigns. You need to watch three numbers.
Open rate tells you whether your subject lines are earning attention. The restaurant industry average sits around 43-44%, which is actually quite strong compared to other sectors. If you're below 30%, your subject lines need work, or your list needs cleaning.
Click-through rate tells you whether the content inside is compelling enough to drive action. Industry average is just above 1%, but well-segmented campaigns with strong offers should aim higher. If people open but don't click, the offer isn't matching the promise.
Redemption and repeat visits are the metrics that actually matter for your bottom line. Track how many people use the offer codes, make the reservation, or place the direct order. Then track whether they come back again. This is where email proves its value, not in vanity metrics, but in actual bums on seats and orders through the door.
If you're using a decent email platform, all of this is trackable from day one. You don't need a six-month runway to see if it's working. You'll know within two or three sends.
Start Now. Not in June.
Here's the timing mistake most restaurants make. They wait until summer hits to think about summer marketing. By then, half the audience has already left, and the other half has already made their plans.
The restaurants that protect their revenue through summer are the ones that start building their email list and their email flow in April and May. They export their customer data now. They set up their email platform now. They write and schedule their first campaign now.
Dubai's F&B market has over 13,000 restaurants competing for attention. Almost 1,200 new licences were issued in 2024 alone. The competition doesn't slow down just because the temperature goes up.
The restaurants that win summer aren't the ones with the biggest ad budgets. They're the ones that talk directly to the customers who already know them, with the right message, at the right time, through a channel they actually check.
That channel is email. And the right time to start is before you need it.
Frequently asked questions that restaurants in Dubai have about Email Marketing
How can Dubai restaurants increase revenue during the summer months?
Dubai restaurants can protect summer revenue by using email marketing to stay connected with customers who remain in the city. Rather than cutting budgets and waiting for October, restaurants should build a structured email sequence starting in late May that targets residents still in Dubai, promotes direct delivery orders to avoid platform commissions, and rewards loyal customers. Email marketing returns an average of $36 for every $1 spent, making it the highest-ROI digital channel available — especially powerful when you're reaching people who've already dined with you.
What is the best email marketing strategy for restaurants in Dubai?
The most effective approach is a five-email summer flow: an early hook in late May showcasing your summer menu, a resident-focused offer in mid-June, a direct delivery push in July that bypasses third-party commission fees, a loyalty reward in August for your most engaged customers, and a "we're back" teaser in early September to build momentum before the winter season. Personalised, segmented emails generate roughly 12 times more revenue per send than generic mass blasts, so each message should feel tailored to the recipient.
How do restaurants reduce Deliveroo and Talabat commission costs in Dubai?
Restaurants can use email marketing to drive direct orders during peak delivery months like July and August. By offering exclusive incentives for ordering directly — a free side dish, a dessert, or a discount code — restaurants bypass the 20–30% commission charged by third-party platforms. This turns an email campaign into both a marketing play and a margin play, keeping more revenue in-house while still giving customers the convenience of delivery.
What email metrics should restaurants track to measure campaign success?
Restaurants should focus on three key metrics: open rate (the restaurant industry average is around 43–44%, and anything below 30% signals a subject line or list quality problem), click-through rate (industry average is just above 1%, with well-segmented campaigns aiming higher), and redemption and repeat visits — how many people actually use offer codes, make reservations, or place direct orders and then come back. Results are typically visible within two or three sends, so there's no need to wait months to evaluate performance.
When should Dubai restaurants start planning their summer email marketing?
Restaurants should start in April or May — not June. By the time summer arrives, a significant portion of the audience has already left the city or made their plans. The key steps are exporting customer data from existing systems (POS, reservation platforms, loyalty programmes), setting up a simple email platform like Mailchimp, Brevo, or Klaviyo, and writing and scheduling the first campaign before the slump begins. With over 13,000 restaurants competing in Dubai's F&B market, early preparation is the difference between surviving summer and losing ground.
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