Average spend on a night out has risen 9% over the past year to £61.58.
The Deltic Night Index shows spend between August and October was also up 14.8% on the last quarter.
The index shows that in the last quarter 60.1% of consumers said they were going on a night out at least once a week - up from 43.2% in the last quarter, and 58.3% from the same period last year.
Peter Marks, chief executive of the Deltic Group – which produces the report - told MCA the figures showed the momentum was going in the right direction for the sector, despite significant headwinds.
He stressed that the data was not just focussed on Deltic’s core audience of 18-25-year-olds but reflected a desire across age groups to go out, with figures showing just over two fifths (40.8%) of Brits aged 46-55 go on a night out once a week.
There was an 11.1% increase in spending on drinks in venues compared to last year (from £16.22 to £18.02), with one in seven people spending over £30 on drinks in a venue. The index also shows average spend of £11.46 on pre-drinks – up 20.9% year-on-year.
Marks told MCA the market remains “moderately price-sensitive” but that premiumisation continued to be a key trend.
He said: “Overall we think we have seen the momentum going in the right direction. Given a lot of what has hit the leisure sector, it’s great to see that going out is an important part of the DNA of our economy and is still increasing.
“What the index shows is that the desire to go out is there amongst all age groups. At Deltic, we’re focussed on the 18-25-year-old market, and they continue to have a passion for going out. The problem is the perception problem that nightclubs are out of date, and that comes from people who have themselves grown out of that target market. As an operator I know that I have to surround myself with people who understand and reflect our target market in order that we can stay relevant. At Deltic we are not trying to grow older with our audience – we want to stay best in class at clubbing and late-night bars.”
The index shows that while word-of-mouth recommendations remain the biggest driver of choice when deciding where to go on a night out, it is declining, with social media increasingly important. The influence of promotors has also waned.
The data highlights the increasing popularity of Halloween, with nearly 70% of Brits celebrating in 2017 - up 8.5% year-on-year. Average spend on Halloween has also increased by 7.2% on the previous year, from £33 to £35.36.
Marks said Freshers Week figures have also remained positive, adding: “Any operator who has Freshers in their mix, whatever they do, knows they have got that first week to make a really good impression so you have to throw everything at it to try to secure those customers. You have got to take risks. This is where our scale helps. This year we have targeted more new sessions than ever before and we believe more of them are going to stick. It’s about seeing how these nights go. We tried harder than ever before this year which means we have better data for next year. It just builds.”
The index also shows that 29.1% of 18-21 year olds go out in groups of five to six, which remains unchanged from 2016. However, 10.1% of those polled said they would go on a night out by themselves. When compared to last year, there has been on average 5% increase in the number of people going out in mixed gender groups of friends across all ages. This has increased by 6% amongst men and 9% amongst women.
Some 33.8% of respondents said they spend more money on pubs than other form of late night leisure each month. Though this is up from 25.8% for the previous quarter, it is the same figure as this time last year. The pub is most popular among 46-55 year olds, with 44.5% spending the more money on pubs than other forms of late night leisure.
Marks concluded: ““This is the first time we can look at the Deltic Night Index data over a 12-month period and, this report is showing what we already know: people love a good night out – the key point is that the definition of a ‘good night out’ very much depends on your age.
“Unsurprisingly, activities like the cinema and the pub prove to be popular with older age groups, but clubbing and going to bars continues to be one of the most popular night out activities for the younger age groups despite the commentary around younger people drinking and going out less. As we see from the data, almost half of 18-25 year olds spend more money in clubs and bars each month than any other forms of late night leisure.”
The report surveyed 2,291 18+ year olds with a minimum of 500 18-21 year olds.
