The number of consumers not showing up for their reservations in pubs, bars and restaurants has doubled since September last year.
Research from Zonal and CGA by NIQ shows that 12% of consumers are not honouring their reservations or informing venues in advance that they need to cancel.
Restaurants are most severely impacted, as they experience 27% of cancellations across the industry.
No shows cost the sector £17.59bn per year in lost revenue alone, according to Zonal and CGA.
Following the launch of Zonal’s #ShowUpForHospitality campaign the percentage of no shows dropped from 14% at launch to 6% by September 2022. However, consumers appear to have fallen back into old habits.
Olivia FitzGerald, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Zonal said that it is important to educate customers on the impact that not honouring bookings has on the industry, as well as finding ways for businesses to help reduce the risk of these no-shows occurring.
“We launched our #ShowUpForHospitality campaign in 2021 in order to shine a light on this issue, change consumer behaviours, as well as start an industry discussion as to how best to combat this long-standing problem”, she added.
”Whilst the industry has made significant steps to reduce these figures, there is still more work to be done.
”We want to again bring the industry together to raise awareness of the issue, to share knowledge on how to mitigate the problem, as well as encourage customers to always show up for hospitality and help support their local pubs, bars and restaurants.”
CGA by NIQ’s Client Director, Andy Dean added, “This research is incredibly important in highlighting the impact no-shows are having on the hospitality sector, whilst customers might think missing a reservation is only a minor inconvenience for the venue and staff, the wider connotations need to be emphasised to customers, so they appreciate the need to show up for hospitality, support the industry and the workers within it.”
