Sunday leads bank holiday bookings as daytime dining demand grows
Sunday accounted for 43% of all Bank Holiday weekend hospitality bookings, while demand between 12pm and 5pm saw the strongest growth year-on-year.
New insight from leading hospitality technology provider Zonal reveals that Sunday firmly established itself as the most popular day of the recent Bank Holiday weekend, accounting for 43% of all bookings made across the three-day period.
While traditional lunch and dinner times remained the busiest booking windows overall, the strongest growth was seen between midday and 5pm. Bookings at 4pm rose by 14.9%, while reservations at 3pm and 12pm increased by 12.3% and 12.1%, pointing towards consumers making more of earlier bookings and daytime occasions across the long weekend. This mirrors findings from Zonal’s GO Technology research in partnership with NIQ, ‘Why 6:12pm is the new 8pm’, which revealed a growing consumer preference for earlier dining and social occasions, with bookings before 6pm continuing to gain share.
Sunday also recorded the strongest growth, with bookings increasing by 3.3% year-on-year, outperforming both Saturday (+2.6%) and Bank Holiday Monday (+0.5%), as well as the overall year-on-year uplift of 2.3% for the whole weekend. The figures suggest that Sunday played a central role during this bank holiday weekend, providing an important trading opportunity for hospitality businesses.
Alongside this shift, consumers appeared slightly more spontaneous in their planning. On average, guests booked 3.5 days in advance compared to 3.8 days last year. Bank Holiday Monday bookings were made closest to the occasion, with guests reserving tables just 2.5 days ahead on average.
Tim Chapman, Chief Commercial Officer, Zonal, commented: “Bank Holiday weekends continue to provide important trading opportunities for hospitality operators. What’s particularly interesting from this data, is the role Sunday now plays. With almost half of all bookings taking place on the day, it’s increasingly becoming the focal point of the Bank Holiday weekend, supported by strong demand for daytime dining and social occasions.
“We’re also seeing consumers remain relatively flexible in their planning, booking slightly closer to the occasion than they did last year. For operators, this highlights the importance of maintaining visibility and availability right up to the weekend itself, while ensuring they’re prepared to cater for demand throughout the day, not just during the traditional evening peak.”
For more information, images, or to arrange an interview with Zonal, please contact Fleet Street Communications via zonal@fleetstreetagency.com
About Zonal
Zonal is the UK’s leading hospitality technology provider, trusted by the country’s largest pub, restaurant and hotel operators. With more than 45 years of UK hospitality expertise, a fully connected technology ecosystem and always-on, human-led support, Zonal gives complex, multi-site operators the clarity, control and confidence to run every site at its best.