Time Out has opened a new market in Dubai, showcasing what it says is some of the city’s best food, as the global events industry begins to prepare for the recovery from Covid-19.

The London-listed media and hospitality business said Time Out Market Dubai would open on Wednesday, welcoming the public for the first time.

Time Out’s markets aim to put the best a city has to offer under one roof.

The Dubai site has 20 restaurants and bars – serving Chinese food, pizza and others – across 43,000 square feet of space at the city’s Souk Al Bahar shopping centre.

“The market will offer homegrown culinary delights by 17 award-winning chefs and restaurateurs, three unique bars, and cultural and entertainment spaces,” the company told investors on Wednesday.

The market is run in collaboration with Emaar Properties, the company behind the Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building.

Since launching its first site in Lisbon in 2014, Time Out has built a portfolio of seven markets across the world. They collectively host around 140 chefs and can serve 4,500 seated customers.

Before the pandemic the sites were a significant part of Time Out’s business, bringing in more than £23 million in revenue in 2019, more than a third of the company’s total £63 million.

But Covid-19 ravaged the global events industry, forcing a majority of the company’s markets to close for much of the past year.

At the moment, Time Out Markets in Boston, New York, Chicago, Montreal and Lisbon are all currently closed because of the pandemic.

Miami currently hosts the only open Time Out Market.

More openings are planned in Porto next year, Abu Dhabi the year after and Prague in 2025.