Restaurant bookings service, Bookatable.co.uk, reveals that there has been a significant rise in the number of Brits eating out the day after Valentine’s Day to avoid the frenetic rush for romantic meals on 14 February.
Booking data from Bookatable’s database of over 800,000 diners was collated to create their Valentine’s Trends Report, with findings revealing that there was a 180 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of bookings made on 15 February 2014. Indeed, throughout the 13 – 15 February period, 72 per cent of bookings occurred on 15 February, compared to just 23 per cent in 2013, a year when 58 per cent of bookings were made on 14 February.
Competition for dining spots
This reveals a growing trend towards people booking their Valentine’s Day meal the day after the big day due to the competition for great dining spots. Showing just how much competition there is to secure the perfect dinner date during the period, Bookatable.co.uk can reveal that the first booking for Valentine’s Day 2015 was made on 16 February – a full 363 days ahead of the meal.
In a separate poll of 1,000 consumers, Bookatable.co.uk found that dinner dates remain the most popular aphrodisiac during Valentine’s, with over half of Brits (56 per cent) lusting for someone with a great taste in food and restaurants. And proving that a heavenly meal truly is the route into someone’s heart, a fifth (24 per cent) claimed they would be most impressed by a date that treated them to a steak dinner.
The top five foods that most impress on a date:
- Steak
- French Cuisine
- Michelin
- Lobster
- Thai
Proving that men still have the responsibility to make plans for the special romantic occasion, 60 per cent of bookings were made by men, compared to 40 per cent of women who made reservations. Based on bookings made, the average spend per head that Brits will be forking out this Valentine’s Day will be £28.
Huge event for restaurants
Joe Steele, CEO of Bookatable, commented: “Valentine’s Day is obviously a huge event for restaurants all across the country, but we’ve spotted this growing trend for people to dine out on 15 February to avoid the queues and competition for people booking tables the day before, which is a very clever strategy and one that restaurateurs need to prepare for.
“With a week left to go, Valentine’s Day in 2015 has already recorded a higher number of bookings on our platform compared to this time last year and we fully expect this figure to increase in the build up to the big day.”
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