Greene King Leisure Tracker: drinking out spend up year-on-year

There has been an overall rise in spending on drinking out by £6 (16%) year-on-year, despite the month-on-month spend ahead of Christmas​ dropping by £2 (4%).

Eating out has also seen an increase, with a rise of £7 (10%) but, month-on-month spend has fallen by £5 (5%).

Last month (November), the average British household spend £206 on out-of-home leisure, which is a £17 (9%) rise year-on-year and a £6 (3%) fall month-on-month.

Notable increases across the sector

This year saw a fall lower than 2015 of £17 (8%) in total leisure spending, but year-on-year there were notable increases across eating out, drinking out and other leisure activities.

Greene King put this down to the Paris terror attacks in November 2015 which affected leisure spending around this time last year.

Almost half of respondents to the report said Christmas was a good time to try something different to eat and more than a third said it was a good time to try a different drink.

More than half of the over 24s said Christmas was an ideal opportunity to try a new tipple or food.

The over 55s however. are the most stuck in their traditions as they are happy to experiment with new foods but less open to the idea of new drinks.

Customers are now more adventurous

Women are more enthusiastic than their male counterparts with more than 50% intending to try a new meal and more than a third a new drink over the festive period.

Greene King CRM digital and insights director Kenny Skelton said: “People save up all year for Christmas and see it as a great occasion to push the boat out and try something a bit different.

“The roast turkey with all the trimmings is still beloved by punters at Christmas time but now, customers are more adventurous and expect greater choices and new options on their Christmas menus.”