In spite of the current economic crisis, UK consumers are going out to eat and drink and restaurants and pubs even more than before, according to the latest Taste of the Nation survey conducted by Deloitte.
Yesterday's public sector strikes reportedly had a positive effect on trade at child-friendly restaurants as school closures forced parents to find other ways to keep their children entertained.
Bookings made by corporate guests at Best Western’s 279 member hotels have risen 16 per cent in the past six months which the group claims is its highest level of corporate bookings ever.
Restaurants offering discounts to diners are set to remain popular this Christmas with 71 per cent of diners saying they intend to use them to get money off meals out during the festive season.
The numbers of young entrepreneurs starting up businesses in the hospitality industry is on the increase, according to a recent report, which defined the sector as ‘vulnerable’ due to short-term operating challenges.
Workplace product specialist Slingsby has invested in a new road salt distribution centre and bagging plant, in an effort to meet the demand from the hospitality sector over winter.
The British pub industry is to adopt legally-binding reforms to how they manage the relationship between pub companies and tenants, avoiding the government’s threat of statutory regulation.
London hotels had the worst month of the year in October, suffering a 0.7 per cent decline in Revenue per available room (RevPAR) and a year-on-year room-occupancy drop of 2.4 per cent.
A Bristol restaurant claiming to be the “UK’s largest restaurant” is preparing to open its doors next week, ahead of a planned nationwide roll-out of its brand.
Dishonest guests are using review site TripAdvisor to try and ‘blackmail’ hotel owners into giving them free upgrades and refunds, according to reports today.
London hotel prices in November 2011 have risen 33 per cent in the past year to £177 per night, making the UK capital one of the main drivers for European hotel price recovery, online booking service Trivago reported today.
The hotel industry is honing in on an opportunity to tap into the lucrative Chinese tourism market, as representatives from four UK hotel brands join VisitBritain on a key trip to China.
The vast majority of UK hoteliers believe that customers will change the way they book hotels in 2012, with mobile technologies seen as the future of hotel reservations.
The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) has identified 2012 as ‘the Year of Hospitality’, with today’s launch of a new 10-point plan entitled ‘Putting the Restaurant & Tourism Sectors at the centre of Economic Recovery.’
Restaurant, bar and café owners accustomed to recommending wine to accompany dishes now face a new, rather bizarre challenge: matching background music to affect the taste of wine.
The 2012 Olympics are already having a positive impact on UK tourism, with seven Olympic cities and towns in the top 20 most-stayed-in destinations for 2010, according to new research from VisitBritain.
The UK hospitality industry is continuing to defy the odds with over half of senior hospitality industry executives claiming current trading is better than expected, a survey has found.
Consumers are continuing to eat out at 24 of the UK's biggest pub and restaurant operators despite a squeeze on their personal finances, latest figures show.
The number of international visitors to the UK has risen to record-breaking levels for September, with 2.53 million arrivals and 970,000 holiday visits.
Almost one in five hospitality businesses have encountered a pest problem in the past year, with a lack of effective cleaning and maintenance cited as the main cause for attracting rats, mice and ants.
The number of people enjoying a staycation in 2011 is on par with last year, with seven in 10 going to have taken a domestic break by the end of the year, according to new figures released today by national tourist board VisitEngland.
Latin American restaurants – in particular those serving Peruvian cuisine – are poised to take London by storm over the next year with a number of new openings in the pipeline.
Delays in processing business rate appeals are costing hotels in England over £13m per year, according to new research from business rate specialists CVS.
Reviews website TripAdvisor is again at the centre of controversy after an investigation has revealed an array of security loopholes that can be exploited at the click of a mouse.
Hotel operators throughout the UK are increasingly using professional recruitment companies to head-hunt management staff in an effort to avoid making costly recruitment mistakes.
The number of UK bars appointing administrators has more than doubled between quarters two and three, reflecting the deep-set, challenging trading conditions.
Mass-market food concepts are smartening up their acts in customer service, design and food quality in an attempt to steal customers away from more expensive mid-market offerings.
Food may have become the saviour of the British pub, but that doesn't mean that operators can get away with sticking a few classic dishes on a menu and hoping for the best.
Following the negative financial effects of the riots in August, London hotels have bounced back in September and are on track for a record-breaking year.
Pub Landlords throughout the UK believe that cask ale could hold the key to the future of the Great British pub, according to new research by Molson Coors.
Following the warmest September since 2006 and the equal-sixth warmest in the last 100 years, Britains leading pub and restaurant groups saw a significant boost in sales.
Two-thirds of pub and restaurant goers want to see more nutritional information - including calorie content - on food menus before placing their orders, new research has found.
A report from the Office for National Statistics has revealed ‘mixed’ tourism figures for the month of August, following the riots which hit many parts of London and other major cities.
The hospitality industry now accounts for eight per cent of the nation’s jobs, offering a financial clout strong enough to help re-balance the economy, according to a report from the British Hospitality Association (BHA).
The national media should stop 'talking down' jobs in hospitality and start promoting the industry as a worthwhile career choice for job seekers to enable restaurants, hotels and pubs to fill vacant positions and retain staff.
The hospitality industry is experiencing the highest level of job activity for over two years, despite growing fears that the UK is to be hit by a double-dip recession.
The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) has launched a new campaign to embolden diners to ask for doggy bags and to encourage restaurants to make patrons feel more comfortable about it.
London hoteliers have so far successfully ridden out the economic storm, while rates in the provinces have remained ‘stubbornly flat’, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) report.
Food is being dubbed a 'lifeline' for many pubs, despite the operating costs involved in serving food being 7 per cent higher than they are in wet-led pubs, the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) reports.
As sales in the UK’s foodservice sector are beginning to decline, restaurant, bar and café operators are keeping customers eating out by introducing new brands, changing their menus and broadening their food and drink offering.
Cask ale drinkers are twice as likely to visit the pub as non-cask drinkers, spend more when they’re there and, most importantly, can’t switch to the supermarket to purchase their favourite drink.
Italian cuisine is ranked as the nation’s favourite when dining out, while traditional British food still tops the menu for home cooking, according to the How Britain Eats 2011 Report.
A new report has revealed that major sporting events in the first half of this year led to average hotel price increases of nearly 30 per cent, lending weight to predictions that even larger price hikes are due for next year’s Olympics.
Britain’s beer drinkers are paying a staggering 40 per cent of the entire European Beer Tax bill, according to a new report from global accountancy firm Ernst & Young, commissioned by the European brewing industry.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has revealed it is ‘deeply disappointed’ with a recent report from the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee.
Occupancy at London’s hotels dropped by 3 per cent in August with the riots blamed for guests staying away or cutting breaks short according to hotel consultancy PKF.
