Hospitality and booking platform, DesignMyNight have announced the results of their annual city survey with this year’s focus putting a spotlight on affordability in the UK. One of the biggest questions posed to their 3.9 million monthly users was ‘has the cost of living crisis affected your spending habits?’ A resounding majority (almost 84%) stated that it has. However, despite this shift, almost 36% of participants still class going out to restaurants and bars as ‘essential spending’.
When broken down further, it was revealed that almost 50% of those who voted ‘yes’ when asked whether they believe drinking and dining is essential were in the 26 to 35 age bracket. This age group interestingly accounted for almost 42% of the votes when asked whether the cost of living crisis had changed their spending habits. It appears that, from the affordability survey, visiting pubs, bars, restaurants and going to events, is more important to millennials than any other age group.
Once again, it’s not been an easy summer for the hospitality industry. Not only has the cost of living crisis made an impact, but there’s also been a large number of train strikes and price increases; plus, the UK experienced the sixth wettest July on record. Despite these factors, people are still willing to part with their cash when it comes to drinking and dining out. Almost 46% of respondents would happily spend up to £60 on a meal, whilst 73% stated they’d spent between £4 and £6 on their last pint. There were also still 15% of people who’d spent between £7 and £9, with the minority of just 1% stating they had spent more than £10.
When asked what event people would most likely splash the cash on, birthdays came up as the clear winner, with 85% stating they would happily spend more for this occasion. Surprisingly, promotions or getting a new job got 20% of the votes, way more than celebrating a graduation, which only got the nod from 9% of those surveyed.
Katie Kirwan, Head of Brand and B2C at DesignMyNight, said: “The going may be tough right now, but going out remains important to our audience across all price points. While we’ve seen that a demand for affordability is propping up the industry, quality of spending is equally as important, and people aren’t willing to sacrifice their money for the mediocre. Hospitality’s run of it post-covid has been difficult, but our consumer survey has shown that shared experiences are still there to be catered to, and that with over 50% of millennials seeing drinking and dining as a necessity, a cost of living crisis isn’t going to hold the industry back.”
