Intro
The HoReCa industry across Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is experiencing a swift digital evolution. In a region known for high mobile usage and intense competition, maintaining a strong online presence and managing digital reputation has become essential for hospitality brands. Today’s consumers heavily depend on platforms like Google Maps, search engines, and social media to discover, evaluate, and choose where to dine or stay. In this environment, customer experience (CX) plays a pivotal role, as seamless omnichannel engagement and timely responses to reviews significantly shape guest perceptions and influence brand loyalty.
Key trends and statistics highlight the importance of these factors:
- Coffee and café culture have emerged as significant trends within the GCC food service sector, particularly in the UAE. Coffee consumption in the country has soared, with more than six million cups consumed daily and an annual spend exceeding USD 630 million.
- Customer expectations have shifted toward seamless digital experiences. According to KPMG, 96% of companies in GCC consider CX improvement their top priority
- The GCC HoReCa market is projected to reach USD 61.55 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to USD 109.9 billion by 2030, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.29% over the forecast period (2025–2030)
Alongside the trends mentioned above, there are additional important market developments to consider:
- A decline of 1.5 points in a business’s average review rating can lead to an 11% decrease in sales.
- According to Total Food Service, 80% of diners are more inclined to choose a restaurant that has positive reviews highlighting the quality and taste of its food.
Therefore, cafés and restaurants must substantially strengthen their digital strategies. Google Maps is a critical part of that equation, given that Google accounts for 96% of online traffic in the GCC. To maintain accurate location listings, manage customer reviews effectively, and boost visibility in local searches, businesses need a well-defined digital location management strategy. With this in mind, let’s dive into our key findings.
What HoReCa are going to be analyzed?
Our latest analysis explores the digital footprint of 21 major cafés and restaurants operating across 6 GCC markets: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar. Drawing from an extensive dataset comprising 7 102 Google Maps locations, 5 021 359 customer reviews, and 1 721 303 user-generated photos, we focused on HoReCa with the highest number of physical locations. This approach not only highlights regional trends but also ensures balanced representation across the GCC, providing valuable benchmarks for businesses invested in location-based customer engagement.
Our findings reveal clear opportunities for GCC restaurants and cafés to optimize their visibility and accuracy on Google Maps. Notably, 19% of the analyzed HoReCa lacked key business information such as address, phone number, category, website, and photos.
In particular, 828 out of 7 102 Google Maps listings (11.7%) were unclaimed or unmanaged by the brand. For HoReCa businesses, this is a cautionary signal: unclaimed profiles risk misleading customers with outdated hours, incorrect locations, or missed service opportunities, all of which directly impact foot traffic and guest experience.
On average, data completeness across GCC cafés and restaurants reaches 81%, with many locations missing critical business details that directly affect customer engagement. For instance, 986 locations (13.9%) lack website links, and 921 (13.0%) have no telephone number listed.
These gaps reinforce a broader issue: a significant portion of physical locations remain unmanaged at the brand level, increasing the risk of customer dissatisfaction due to outdated addresses or incorrect operating hours. Compounding this, many listings also omit key attributes and business descriptions, reducing visibility in local search and undermining trust. HoReCa businesses with multiple branches must actively fix these issues to protect both footfall and reputation.
The average rating across GCC cafés and restaurants is 4.0, based on 5 021 359 reviews, which leaves clear room for improvement. Nearly 50% of locations fall below a 4.0 rating, and 12.7% have no reviews at all, indicating low customer engagement and missed SEO opportunities.
For HoReCa brands, this highlights the value of proactive review management. Even a 0.1 increase in rating can drive up to 25% more conversions, making underperforming locations a smart focus for quick wins in visibility and customer trust.
With 1 721 303 photos analyzed, visual content shows strong engagement potential. However, quality is lacking. For HoReCa brands, maintaining updated, high-quality visuals is key. Locations with relevant photos see 15% more views, making photo management a simple but powerful driver of foot traffic.
GCC Local Search Trends for HoReCa
Our analysis across 6 GCC countries reveals key local search trends impacting HoReCa brands. These insights power the Geojet Performance Index, helping multi-location businesses benchmark and improve their online visibility. Explore the map below to see performance by country.
The Geojet Performance Index is built on 7 core metrics:
- Verified locations
- Data completeness
- Average rating
- Reviews per location
- Photos per location
- Total number of locations
- Population
Focusing on the first five gives HoReCa brands the biggest opportunity to strengthen their local search performance. Here's why these metrics matter—and how to improve them
- Verified Locations. Verification builds trust. A verified listing signals to customers that the business information is accurate and brand-managed making it the most heavily weighted metric. Kuwait leads here, with 92% of locations claimed by HoReCa brands.
- Data Completeness. Complete profiles help customers make confident decisions. Missing information creates friction and lowers trust, which is why this metric also carries significant weight. UAE sets the standard, with 83% of cafes and restaurants providing full business details.
- Ratings. Customer ratings offer a direct view into satisfaction and service quality. While not fully controllable, maintaining strong ratings is essential for credibility and conversion. Kuwait leads with average ratings of 4.1.
- Reviews per Location. Reviews indicate engagement and customer voice. While quantity matters, quality and active response are more influential. This metric carries moderate weight. As the largest market, Saudi Arabia naturally leads in review volume.
- Photos per Location. Photos enhance visibility and influence customer perception. Although a supporting factor, relevant and up-to-date visuals improve engagement. Saudi Arabia again leads, with 1 204 326 photos posts that reflects strong interaction.
- Number of Locations. While it’s important to list every physical site, this metric holds lower weight. Once locations are live, the focus should shift to data verification and customer experience.
- Population. This contextual metric helps normalize comparisons across countries with different market sizes. Though not influenceable, it ensures a balanced, data-driven view, especially between markets like Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Conclusion
For cafés and restaurants in the GCC, managing online presence across multiple locations is increasingly complex but it’s also critical for growth. Using the Geojet Performance Index, we identified actionable insights that help GCC HoReCa operators improve their local SEO and customer experience. Impressively, 6 out of the 7 key performance indicators can be fully managed through the Geojet dashboard, thus empowering brands to take control of their digital footprint with ease.
While our research focused on Google Maps, forward-thinking HoReCa brands should also monitor emerging platforms like Bing Maps and Yango Maps. Yango, backed by Yandex, is rapidly expanding in the region and presents new opportunities for early adopters.
When well-managed, digital map platforms become powerful tools to attract new guests, drive traffic, and boost operational accuracy. Neglecting them, however, can lead to poor customer experiences and eroded brand trust.
At Geojet, we’ve helped one of our clients achieve the following:
- 52% increase in discovery searches
- 37% increase in created routes
- 21% increase in site visits
Curious how we can help your business do the same? Check our case studies or reach out to us at [email protected] or via a live chat.
