2023 Hospitality Industry Implementations Survey and Results
We carried out a survey to find out what 2023 hospitality industry implementations venues in the UK and US had carried out to contribute towards their overall goals.
In the dynamic realm of the hospitality industry, where adaptability and innovation are the cornerstones of success, we were interested in unraveling the intricacies of the landscape with our comprehensive ‘2023 Hospitality Industry Implementations Survey’.
Conducted in early November, this survey embarked on a journey across the United Kingdom and the United States, delving into the pulse of the industry and the new implementations venues participated in.
The findings, drawn from a diverse pool of 2000 venue advertisers on the Bloc app, 1000 in the UK and 1000 in the US, not only unveil the profound impact of external factors but also spotlight the resilience and forward-thinking spirit that define the hospitality sector.
Join us as we dissect the illuminating report, exploring the triumphs, challenges, and the overarching narrative that shapes the future of hospitality.
1. How the survey was conducted
2. Why we conducted this survey
3. Who the survey was sent to
4. The questions of the survey
5. The results of the survey
6. The conclusions of the results
1. How the survey was conducted
Bloc is a social events app that allows it’s user to check-in to venues and earn rewards for attending. The app also allows people to see who is also checked into the same event as them so they can connect with them before they go.
To increase check-ins, Bloc invites hospitality venues to advertise themselves on the app.
Over the years we have built an incredible community of advertisers who promote themselves on the platform.
To conduct this survey we sent 10 questions to over 3000 advertisers, of which approximetely 2000 answered them in return for advertising credit.
2. Why we conducted this survey
As it’s the end of the year we were intrigued to find out about what new technologies and changes the hospitality industry made in 2023.
We knew it had been an incredibly tricky year with inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and staff shortages taking their toll.
It was likely that the hospitality had to adapt to give themselves a chance for survival and a way to thrive.
Insights from hospitality venues themselves via a survey can, most of the time, show clear patterns and give quantifiable evidence to more complcated questions.
We want to start doing this survey once a year to show trends, challenges and what the future might hold for the hospitality industry.
We started this blog to mainly educate those in the industry for how to be successful in this industry.
3. Who the survey was sent to
We have a wide range of advertisers on our platform, from hotels to restaurants.
We sent the survey to every single one of our advertisers in the UK and US, with 2000 in the US and 1000 in the UK.
Although we did send the survey to every single advertiser (just over 3000) here’s the approximate breakdown of what they look like more specifically in the sector:
US restaurants = 50%
US bars and pubs = 25%
US nightclubs = 10%
US cafes = 10%
US hotels = 5%
UK restaurants = 45%
UK bars = 30%
UK nightclubs = 10%
UK cafes = 10%
UK hotels = 5%
Of the 3000+ survey emails sent, just over 2000 replied.
4. The questions of the survey
The questions we wanted to ask our hospitality advertisers were aimed at finding out the challenges they had in 2023 and whether they implemented anything new to improve their business.
Here are the 10 questions we asked:
1. Did you implement anything new in 2023 to increase your revenue or decrease your costs? Yes/No (Please state what you implemented)
2. If you answered ‘Yes’ to the question above, would you say the change made a significant impact to your goals? Yes/No
3. What percentage would you say the impact had. If you didn’t make any changes please answer N/A
4. Did your online reservations increase or decrease compared to 2022 when comparing the number of bookings from online vs in-person/or by phone. Increase/Decrease
5. If you answered ‘Yes’ to the question above please state the percentage differences e.g. 2022 online reservations 70%, 2022 other booking mediums 30%. 2023 online reservations 80%, 2023 other booking mediums 20%.
6. Did you implement any diversity initiatives in 2023? Yes/No
7. Did you implement any new sustainable practices in 2023? Yes/No
8. If you answered ‘Yes’ to the question seven above please state what you implemented.
9. Do you plan on implementing any new digital technology in 2024 to increase profits? Yes/No
10. If you answered ‘Yes’ to the above, please state what you plan on implementing.
We sent these questions on the 1st November 2023 and allowed people reply by the 14th November to gain free credit on their advertiser account.
We took the first 2000 replies from the 3000 survey emails sent for our results.
5. The results of the survey
Here are the results from the 2023 hospitality survey:
1. Did you implement anything new in 2023 to increase your revenue or decrease your costs? Yes/No (Please state what you implemented)
Of the 2000 answers to this question, 88.35% of the answers came back as ‘Yes’.
Results in the UK and the US were also pretty similar with 89% in the UK saying ‘Yes’ and 86% in the US saying ‘Yes’.
Which does make sense considering the UK is being hit slightly harder by inflation as well as the cost-of-living crisis.
2. If you answered ‘Yes’ to the question above, would you say the change made a significant impact to your goals? Yes/No
Of the 1767 ‘Yes’ answers to question one, 63% of which answered ‘Yes’ (1113 venues) to the fact that the changes made a significant impact.
Leaving 37% answering that the changes they made or the new technologies they implemented made no difference to their goals or bottom line.
3. What percentage would you say the impact had. If you didn’t make any changes please answer N/A
Of the 1113 venues that said the changes they made did make an impact towards their goals, just over 50% said the impact was only between 1-10%.
However, half of the results did answer that the changes have contributed to over 11% of their 2023 goals.
Suggesting that the changes that were made did make a significant impact to their overall results.
From these results it doesn’t seem like any changes made such a significant impact (over 50% of their 2023 goals).
4. Did your online reservations increase or decrease compared to 2022 when comparing the number of bookings from online vs in-person/or by phone. Increased/Stayed the Same/Decreased
Online reservation tools have exploded in recent years, with every new restaurant opening practically taking on an online tool.
COVID certainly closed down most of the venues that weren’t using them.
The answers to this one came back as:
Increased = 45%
Stayed the Same = 47%
Decreased = 8%
5. Please state the percentage differences of your online vs offline bookings from 2022 to 2023 e.g. 2022 online reservations 70%, 2022 other booking mediums 30%. 2023 online reservations 80%, 2023 other booking mediums 20%.
There was an uptick in the number of online reservations from 2022 to 2023, with online reservations increasing by 4%.
This is evidence that online booking reservations are becoming more and more popular.
This is likely due to the younger generations relying on online booking reservation tools rather than calling.
6. Did you implement any diversity initiatives in 2023? Yes/No
Of the 2000 surveys sent out 25% replies ‘Yes’ that they did implement diversity initiatives in 2023. 75% said they did not.
Diversity has become so important in the workplace as the younger generations are not championing venues that don’t include diverse practices when it comes to employment.
7. Did you implement any new sustainable practices in 2023? Yes/No
A huge 40% of venues said they did implement new sustainable practices in 2023.
This is none surprising as sustainability has been a common topic in the news as businesses are put under a huge amount of pressure to be more green.
The younger generations are a driving force behind being green.
We know it is becoming one of the most important elements when it comes to deciding who to buy from.
8. If you answered ‘Yes’ to the question seven above please state what you implemented.
The answers to this one varied hugely but the main answers were related to energy and reducing any bills.
This is not surprising as the energy prices went through the roof for businesses in 2023 and venues especially were trying to find any way to reduce their bills.
And this in most cases meant switching to a more green supplier like Octupus that use green energy initiatives.
Other answers included reducing single use plastics, sourcing more locally and some changing their menus completely to serve more eco-friendly foods.
9. Do you plan on implementing any new digital technology in 2024 to increase profits? Yes/No
72% answered ‘Yes’ to this compared to 28% ‘No’.
Showcasing that a huge number of venue businesses will be looking to further their digital stack in 2024.
10. If you answered ‘Yes’ to the above, please state what you plan on implementing.
The answers varied massively with this question.
But the patterns in the answers seemed to suggest that online ordering, TikTok and stock level technology were going to be the focus in 2024.
6. The conclusions of the results
2023 was a very tough year for hospitality with so many venues closing their doors for good.
Data suggests that the majority of these venues were venues that had been open for a long time before COVID, which suggests they weren’t adapting to the changed industry.
Those venues that survived were those that had more focus on taking advantage of the technology, marketing themselves efficiently and optimising their offering.
New restaurants now open with a full tech stack and most of the venues that have survived are the ones ranking best on Google.
The results from this survey mainly suggest that implementing new technologies and initiaves were and still are a massive focus for the hospitality industry.
It also suggests that C-Suites in this industry strongly believe that these new technologies and initiaves will help contribute to their overall goals moving forward.
