Dubai Food Festival Launches Dubai Hidden Gems Campaign

New campaign will see Dubai Food Festival highlight the often undiscovered food scene in Dubai

Foodies can nominate their own ‘Dubai Hidden Gem’ at www.dubaihiddengems.com

The Dubai Food Festival, an annual city-wide culinary celebration, has launched a new campaign to discover the hidden treasures and the tucked-away eateries and restaurants that often only locals know about.

The Dubai ‘Hidden Gems’ campaign, now live, is encouraging GCC and UAE residents and visitors to nominate their favourite unsung heroes of the Dubai food scene at www.dubaihiddengems.com.

Quietly tucked away behind the traditional tourist trail, these boutique, independent restaurants across the city have often been favourites of locals and residents for years. The increasing popularity of these local haunts, which continue to pop up as Dubai develops, inspired Dubai Food Festival to launch their Dubai Hidden Gems campaign as part of this year’s celebrations.

GCC and UAE foodies will have until the 6th February to register their Dubai Hidden Gem nomination before the voting period begins from 7-15th February. Everyone who nominates a Hidden Gem will have a chance to win a three night stay in Dubai for two including a fine dining experience and a unique Hidden Gems tour experience with Gulf Photo Plus.*

Once all the nominations have been received, entries for Dubai Hidden Gems will be shortlisted, ready for voting, with the top five announced in TimeOut Dubai on 24th February. The top 10 will also be given official recognition from The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

The Dubai Hidden Gems campaign is a city-wide promotion for Dubai’s eclectic mix of residents and visitors to take ownership of Dubai’s food culture and share it with the rest of the world.

This emerging trend has not gone unnoticed by industry professionals either says Ali Sinaei, Managing Partner of RoundMenu, an online restaurant discovery platform, who says: “It's been wonderful for us to see demand for Hidden Gems rise at such a rapid pace over the last couple of years. In 2015 alone restaurants classified as Hidden Gems on RoundMenu saw a rise in interest from diners by 20 per cent, and we expect that trend to continue as discovery platforms like ourselves and events such as Dubai Food Festival continue to bring more and better content to diners.”

Dubai Hidden Gems is not only an opportunity for people to celebrate food culture but also encourages them to support local business in the area. The 10 finalists from the nominations will give an authentic reflection of the cultures and cuisines of the 200 nationalities that call Dubai home.

For further information on Dubai Hidden Gems please visit  www.dubaihiddengems.com. 

*Flights are included for those in the GCC residing outside of the UAE. Terms and Conditions apply.