Over half of the bookings (52%) that have already been made for this coming December are for Christmas Day itself, compared to 44% this time last year.
Saturday 14 December is currently the most popular day for bookings in the festive period, followed by Saturday 7 December.
When it comes to group bookings (covers of 10 people or more), reservations are up 38% in comparison to this time in 2023 and group bookings currently account for 26% of the total bookings for this December.
“Our insights show that Christmas 2024 is already looking positive for hospitality,” says Tim Chapman, chief commercial officer at Zonal.
“With group bookings looking to be particularly popular, there is even more reason for operators to celebrate, but to also get prepared.”
Christmas is usually one of the hospitality sectors busiest periods, but recent years has seen businesses impacted by the rising cost of living, with four out of ten consumers last year saying they planned to spend less on socialising at Christmas after household budgets were squeezed by high interest rates and sticking inflation.
Despite this, operators did see growth last Christmas with year-on-year sales rising 8.8% in December, according to the CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker.