Gen Z spending £857m a week on hospitality sector, despite cost-of-living crisis

Even amid the cost-of-living crisis, new research from guest experience and retention platform SevenRooms has revealed Gen Z aren’t being deterred from spending at social media hotspots.

Almost half (49 per cent) have visited a restaurant because it went viral on social media, and nearly one-third (31 per cent) will only visit restaurants that are seen as ‘Instagrammable’.

The ‘Making Booking Social’ study polled 2,012 UK consumers aged 16 and over on the impact social media has on their restaurant and dining habits. The findings revealed that the social media savvy generation are heavily influenced by what they see online when choosing a restaurant:

• 92 per cent of Gen Z Brits are willing to travel to visit a ‘social media famous’ venue
• More than one-third (36 per cent) have visited a restaurant just so they could post about it on social media
• 38 per cent of Gen Z Brits would spend more at a restaurant that has gone viral.

According to the study, it pays for restaurants to reel in the reservations from these young diners. While many consumers are tightening their belts, Gen Z continue to be “big spenders”. Those aged 16-24 are parting with an average of £68.02 per week in venues: 68 per cent more than the average consumer.

Given there are an estimated 12.6 million Gen Z consumers in the UK, the group is worth a huge £857m a week to the hospitality sector.

While it seems too good an opportunity to miss, the majority of the UK’s restaurants are leaving money on the table by failing to capture the Gen Z consumer through social media. 58 percent of Gen Z consumers say they would visit more restaurants they found through social media if they could book there and then.

Despite this, according to SevenRooms’ research, almost two-thirds (59 per cent) of the UK’s best restaurants don’t take reservations through social media. Failing to take this “simple step” means potentially missing out on the easily-caught cash of what could be the biggest-spending generation yet.

Danilo Mangano, managing director, international at SevenRooms, commented: “With Gen Z worth almost a billion pounds a week in hospitality spend, they are a crucial audience for restaurants to tap into to drive more revenue for their businesses, something needed more than ever by the sector.”

“Fundamentally, to reach these younger consumers and capture this spend, restaurants have to meet them where they are. Almost half are saying they follow restaurants they want to visit on social media, so there is a ready-made audience to target.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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