City diners worst offenders for restaurant no-shows
Londoners are the worst offenders for not showing up to a restaurant or pub booking, research has revealed.
No shows are costing the beleaguered hospitality sector £17.6bn a year, with pubs and restaurants imploring customers to cancel in advance if they can’t make a reservation.
One in seven customers across the country have not turned up for a reservation without letting the venue know since hospitality’s gradual reopening in April.
Around one quarter (24 per cent) of pub and restaurant goers in the capital said they had failed to turn up to a venue, higher than the national average of 14 per cent.
Diners in Scotland, the South West and the South East were the most likely to honour bookings, with just 10 per cent not cancelling a reservation they did not turn up for.
More than a quarter of 18-34 year-olds admitted to ‘no-shows’, according to a survey of 5,000 people by technology company Zonal and hospitality consultancy CGA. This age group dined out more often than their older peers.
Forgetful customers
Reasons for not showing up included a change of plans, someone else in a group cancelling, someone falling ill Covid symptoms and customers forgetting they had made a booking.
Hospitality organisations, including Zonal, CGA and trade body UKHospitality, have joined forces with a #ShowUpForHospitality campaign.
UK Hospitality said the £17.6bn loss from no-shows represented 13.3 per cent of the industry’s £132bn pre-pandemic revenue.
“Our pubs, bars and restaurants deserve our support and it’s encouraging that this research shows there is a growing realisation among customers of the need to honour their booking or let the venue know they can’t make it,” UK Hospitality’s chief executive Kate Nicholls said.
“But it also highlights the fact that no shows still happen far too often, with younger customers particularly responsible, and that really can’t go on.”