No-shows in hospitality double in a year

18-Oct-2023 - Last updated on 19-Oct-2023 at 08:47 GMT

The number of consumers not showing up for their reservations in pubs, bars and restaurants has doubled since September last year, according to research from Zonal and CGA by NIQ.

The data shows that some 12% of consumers are still not honouring their reservations and not informing venues in advance that they need to cancel, costing the sector £17.59bn per year in lost revenue alone.

The figures reflect a six point rise on the percentage of hospitality no-shows recorded in September last year.

Restaurants are the most severely impacted by the rise, accounting for 27% of all no-shows reported across the industry.

“This research is incredibly important in highlighting the impact no-shows are having on the hospitality sector,” says Andy Dean, CGA by NIQ’s Client Director.

“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.”

Back in September 2021, as the sector was opening up again following the Covid-19 pandemic, it was reported that 14% of consumers were not honouring their reservations, but this fell to 6% by September 2022 following the launch of the industry-wide #ShowUpForHospitality campaign, which was spearheaded by Zonal.

“These latest insights show that no-shows are still very much an issue facing the industry and it is a costly one,” says Olivia FitzGerald, chief sales and marketing officer at Zonal.

“It is important that we continue our efforts 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.

“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.”

Last month, data from Barclaycard revealed that one in five hospitality business have considered closing permanently because of the impact of no-shows and last-minute cancellations.

The research found that business owners have seen a 40% increase in no-shows since last year, rising to 57% for restaurants located in London.