Results also showed nearly two thirds of young adults intended to spend the same or more money than they did last year and more than half (53%) believe the pub has an important role to play in seasonal events.
Greene King group marketing director Rob Rees said: “It is great to see Brits getting into the spirit of Halloween again this year with nearly one in five people celebrating the occasion and a further 12% celebrating it most years.”
Important event
He continued: “Halloween is one of the many important events that we celebrate in our pubs and is particularly popular with young people.
“However, it’s not just Halloween that young people think the pub should celebrate; more than half of 18 to 24-year-olds, approximately 10% more than the UK average, feel it is important for local pubs to be involved in seasonal events.
“The data suggests that pubs remain important hubs for local communities and here at Greene King, we are keen to open our doors to all local communities looking to celebrate key events in the British seasonal calendar.”
Other key points from the leisure tracker include last month (September), the average British household spent £205 on out-of-home leisure, which is a £3 (2%) fall year on year and a £24 (11%) fall month on month.
Rise and fall
Eating and drinking out both saw a year-on-year rise of £4 (5%) each whereas other leisure activities continued to struggle with a £12 (15%) fall in spending year on year.
Rees added: “The end of the summer holidays has inevitably resulted in a month-on-month contraction in leisure spend.
“However, year-on-year figures for eating and drinking out remain positive, indicating consumers are continuing to enjoy the extensive options that the UK’s casual-dining market has to offer.”
The previous leisure tracker in August revealed British households were worried about the Brexit impact and earlier in the summer, the results stated more than a third of people were planning to watch the Rio Olympics in the pub.
