Industry campaign to slash cost of no-shows by nearly £4bn

The campaign, spearheaded by technology provider Zonal in partnership with insights consultancy CGA, revealed no-shows were costing the sector £17.6bn a year. One in seven (14%) people had not turned up to their reservation and had not informed the venue, according to the original data. 

However, the latest CGA figures, taken from research of 2,000 consumers this January, revealed no-shows had dropped by 11%. This 3% reduction equates to a collective saving of almost £4bn a year if the trend continues. 

Tight-knit community

According to Zonal chief sales and marketing officer Olivia FitzGerald, no-shows were issues that have impacted the industry for some time, so that the numbers of them had reduced was “encouraging”. 

She said: “The hospitality world is a tight-knit community, and one we’re really proud to be a part of, so it’s great to see the industry rally together around raising awareness of the costly impact of no-shows.” 

Zonal was focused on continuing support for the industry, especially in looking for ways technology could help rebuild the sector after a difficult few years. 

Work to be done

“Pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés are the hubs of local communities, so it’s important to that we play our part in helping them to thrive,” said FitzGerald. 

For CGA client director Andy Dean, hospitality’s concerned efforts to tackle the blight of no-shows were working. The campaign revealed the damage people inflicted on venues when they didn’t show up, at a time when so many businesses were financially precarious.  

Dean hoped the receding of Covid concerns would see no-show rates falling further in the months ahead. But, with nearly £14bn a year still being lost to no-shows, he said there was “clearly still a lot of work to be done.”