Dubai, UAE, 22 June 2026 – Public voting opens today for Map Your Dubai: Insider Edition, a joint initiative by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and Google. The campaign, which originally launched its curation phase earlier this month, shifts its focus to the public to drive growth for the local food and beverage sector.Residents and visitors can now vote on 11 distinct culinary lists created by Google Maps Local Guides. These lists spotlight more than 100 homegrown restaurants, neighbourhood cafes, and hidden gems across the city. Voting remains open until 6 July 2026, with the winning guides featured across official social channels.
A Digital Drive for Homegrown Brands
The initiative forms part of From Dubai, For Dubai, DET’s community-led movement designed to support local entrepreneurs and businesses. By using the Google Maps platform, the campaign turns everyday digital reviews into measurable economic support for neighbourhood venues.Ahmad Al Room Almheiri, CEO of the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Dubai SME), highlighted the economic impact of the project:"The Map Your Dubai initiative reflects what makes Dubai distinctive: a city shaped by the diversity of its people, cultures, businesses, and experiences, and strengthened by the partnerships that bring them together. Through From Dubai, For Dubai, and in collaboration with Google, we are building on Dubai’s long-standing approach to community-led storytelling, from #MyDubai to MyDubai Communities, where residents, creators, and visitors play an active role in shaping the narrative of the city. This initiative also builds on previous collaborations with Google to highlight Dubai’s offering through digital discovery and community participation. It is a strong example of how public-private collaboration, digital platforms, and local voices can translate discovery into real economic value for Dubai-based businesses. By increasing visibility for local F&B concepts and homegrown brands, Map Your Dubai reinforces Dubai’s position as a global gastronomy hub and the best city to visit, live, and work in, while supporting long-term resilience and sustainable growth aligned with the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33."
Empowering Local Guides
The platform relies on Google Local Guides, a global volunteer community that actively reviews locations, updates photos, and structures neighbourhood data on Google Maps. For this campaign, selected guides consolidated their personal recommendations into targeted, thematic dining tracks.Anthony Nakache, Managing Director at Google MENA, emphasised the community aspect of the platform: "Map Your Dubai: Insider Edition empowers Google Local Guides to transform their authentic city knowledge into a powerful community movement. We are driven to enable, support small and homegrown F&B businesses by equipping them with tools they need to stay competitive and reach new audiences. We are deeply committed alongside Dubai Department Economy and Tourism to support the region's F&B business sector."
How to Explore and vote
The 11 curated lists are hosted on the official campaign portal at MapYourDubai.com. Users can browse the selections, save the dining tracks directly to their personal Google Maps accounts to visit the venues, and cast their votes for their favourite culinary lists before the 6 July deadline.
