With a decade of operation in Dubai, Antonio Gonzalez reflected on how the city’s evolution into a “truly global city comparable to New York, London and Singapore,” has facilitated his journey in the country’s food and beverage (F&B) industry from one small restaurant in Dubai Mall to CEO of Sunset Hospitality, a multi-tiered operation with beach and night clubs, restaurants, hotels and resorts.
“Dubai is one of the best cities in the world to start a new business. It is a true hub of innovation as well as a perfect melting pot of cultures and economies,” said Gonzalez.
“What the leadership of the city has done here is remarkable and that creates an environment where it is easy to become an entrepreneur and to grow and invest. It is easy to make Dubai your home, not just a city you are passing by in, and we really feel connected to the city and the country,” he continued.
Dubai’s F&B industry has been gradually emerging from the economic effects of coronavirus, some of which carried through from the height of the pandemic in 2020 – when restaurants had to completely shut down for some time as part of the measures to curb the spread of the virus – through to 2021, said Gonzalez.
“There were a lot of ups and downs, especially with the summer restrictions [for our international operations] but the fact that we were open and able to operate , and our guests and staff felt safe, was a testimony to how well Dubai, and the UAE, managed the crisis,” he said.
“The start of 2022 has been even better and despite all the challenges that we still have around, it’s much easier to navigate through those,” added Gonzalez.
And while Gonzalez believes the global hospitality industry will emerge from the pandemic stronger than before, he said it is futile to estimate when.
“One of the things we have learned the past two years is that forecasts are nice on paper but useless for real-life scenario because we live in an uncertain situation,” said Gonzalez.
“What we had to do is try and be conservative in our plans, to make sure we are able to sustain our business and provide the best experience for our guests while retaining our team and providing relevant opportunities for everybody,” he continued.
SushiSamba and Dubai: melting pots of culture and cuisines
In the pipeline for three years now, Dubai’s branch of Japanese–Peruvian SushiSamba came to fruition at the end of 2022 and Gonzalez said it has been “very well received,” by the local community.
“Both Nakheel, our landlord and the owner of the tower, and ourselves wanted to have an international brand which is well recognised and established. We decided on SushiSamba because of the iconic site that they have in London, which is a city of reference for Dubai in hospitality,” said Gonzalez.
“We also felt that the brand stood for a blend of cultures and cuisines which is also very relevant to Dubai and it had the flexibility to adopt to the local market,” he added.
Sunset Hospitality has a busy calendar of new launchings – both in Dubai and internationally – which will see them double their size by end of 2023, said Gonzalez.
The hospitality company has outlets across the Gulf and the Middle East, most recently inking a joint venture with Dex Squared Hospitality to enter the Egypt market, and Europe with a METT hotel and beach resort planned for Marbella, Spain, this July.
“Our focus is to materialise what we are doing across the Mediterranean and solidify our presence in Europe over the next couple of years. Then, move forward with our expansion to Asia and the US,” said Gonzalez.
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