Brits celebrating Easter by enjoying a meal out prompted a peak in leisure spending during April, the Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker reveals. The latest report shows Brits spent 4% more, £87, going out to eat compared to the same month last year, and Easter was the major driving force.
Households are continuing to allocate more cash towards eating out on special occasions, such as Easter, as they enjoy increases in disposable income, following depreciation in food costs and falling oil prices in 2015.
Special occasions and landmark events
Fiona Gunn, Greene King’s marketing director said: “Special occasions and landmark events, such as Mother’s Day and Easter, are influencing how people choose to spend their money on leisure. Following the recession, consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of budgeting and keeping an eye on spending. Consumers continue to find the cash for big events and the leisure industry is still dominated by important annual celebrations. It will be interesting to see how this trend continues over the course of the year.”
Other Key Highlights
- April saw an increase in spending on Eating Out of 12% compared to March, as households splashed out on Easter dinners over the long weekend
- This drove an increase in total leisure spend of 10% in April versus March
- Spend on Eating Out also increased by 4% year-on-year, to £87 with family households driving the trend
- There was no change in total leisure spend versus last year indicating that allocation of spending rather than volume of spending is the key change
- Drinking Out spend decreased 4% year-on-year, following a return to growth last month
- Household spend in London and the South East increased just 1%, offsetting a small fall in the rest of Great Britain of 1%
Strong recovery in ‘Other Leisure’ spend
Other Leisure, which includes pursuits such as the cinema, live sports events and museums, saw a strong recovery in spend, down just 3% compared to last year, with a strong 9% increase versus March. Fiona continued: “With comparatively more live football matches and more popular movies released, live sport events and the cinema certainly benefited from the increased spend during April.”
Regionally, London and the South East saw a small growth in spending, of just 1%, which counterbalanced the small decrease in the Rest of GB. This demonstrates the continued imbalance in spending power between the North and the South of the Britain. While the difference is not significant enough to indicate a widening gap in financial environments throughout the country, London and the South East remain the most popular location for leisure spend.
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