The campaign was spearheaded by Zonal and CGA who carried out research to find that no-shows were costing the hospitality sector £17.6Bn a year.

When the original research was conducted last year, one in seven people (14%) admitted to not turning up to the venue without informing them. The latest research, conducted in January 2022, revealed that no-shows dropped to 11%, which equates to a collective saving of £3.8Bn a year if the trend continues.

Olivia Fitzgerald, chief sales and marketing officer at Zonal, said: “No-shows are an issue that have impacted our industry for quite some time, so it’s encouraging to see that numbers have reduced since launching our #ShowUpForHospitality campaign.

“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.

“We know that there is more to do to reduce the occurrence of no-shows. At Zonal, we’re keen to continue our support for the industry, in particular looking for new ways that technology can play a role in helping them to rebuild after a difficult few years. 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.” 

Getting involved is simple- download the campaign pack to learn more and help spread the message by using #ShowUpForHospitality on social media.

Andy Dean, client director at CGA, added: “Hospitality’s concerted efforts to tackle the blight of no-shows are working. The campaign has shown people the damage that they inflict on venues when they don’t turn up, at a time when so many businesses are financially precarious.

“With Covid concerns hopefully receding, we may see no-show rates falling further in the months ahead—but nearly £14bn a year is still being lost to no-shows, so there is clearly still a lot of work to be done.”