It’s November and “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is playing hard and heavy on the radio. If you haven’t considered Christmas yet, it’s about time you do as in hospitality it is never too early to start getting ready for the festive season. We’re here to help you take the opportunity to increase sales and put everyone in the spirit during the holiday season. Let your creative side shine and get inspired by these 7 festive ideas guaranteed to make this year's Christmas in your venue a memorable one for all involved!
1. A Christmas themed quiz night
To increase the evening crowd during the early week, a Christmas-themed quiz night could be the answer! Younger student groups who may not choose to have a sit down meal together could be the perfect target audience for a pop-Christmas quiz. A pub quiz is a good way to get everyone involved. If you have ever hosted a quiz before you know how fun and competitive they can get. A Christmas themed quiz can really put your visitors' Christmas knowledge to the test. If you are stuck for ideas on what questions to ask there are plenty of Christmas quiz examples online for you to use.
2. Have a very FIFA Christmas
This winter is going to be an extra busy one with the FIFA World Cup happening between the 21st of November and the 8th of December. Considering that this annual tournament is stretching over the busiest months of the year and is likely to contribute significant traffic to your venue, we recommend the following.
- Be selective with the matches you put on your screens. It’s quite hard to balance the cozy Christmassy atmosphere with a loud sports match and you will surely want to please both crowds. Identify the matches which are key to play on the weekends and communicate this clearly to your customers via social media and in-venue signage.
- Create more drinking space (not for meals). Add tall seats and high tables which can accommodate more people sitting and standing. This way you will be able to accommodate those who booked a sit down Christmas meal and create separation from the noisy football environment by those who only came to drink and watch the match.
- If your venue has an outdoor space which doesn’t get used much over the cold months, consider utilizing it on the match days. The World Cup is stretched over 21 days with a massive revenue potential, therefore there’s a good reason to invest into weatherproofing your beer garden - hire some parasols, switch the outside heaters on and roll out the projector.
- Be mindful of your offering and ensure you cater to everyone coming to watch a match in your venue. According to the latest KAM x SKY Sports study, bars should be focusing on three key aspects of the venue on match days: the atmosphere, facilities/equipment, and well-rounded food and drink menus. Bear in mind, 52% of all women in the UK watch a sports match on TV at least once a month therefore forming a major consumer segment. On the busy match days, consider serving some simple favorite cocktails - take a look at the TOP 10 best selling cocktails and recreate them simply and consistently using FUNKIN COCKTAILS Mixer range. Cater to the female sports fans with ease.
3. Christmas drinks and cocktails specials
Tis the season of pumpkin spiced everything, boozy hot chocolates and gorgeous creamy concoctions. Creating a Christmas themed cocktail menu can be a great way to bring a point of difference to your regulars and ensure they choose to spend their money with your venue this year.
Mulled Passion Fruit Punch, spiced and buttered rum or hot chocolate with a kick are relatively easy to make but can be a great addition to your drinks menu. If you want to keep your specials menu even more simple, you can always add a simple twist to classic cocktails to give them that festive oomph - try a simple recipe of Strawberry Daiquiri, but use spiced rum instead of regular. If you need some help deciding on your special cocktail menu, download a handy check-list from the Trade Hub's Tips and Tricks page where you'll find heaps of useful assets.
4. Festive Sunday roast
Christmas season is all about comfort food - no restrictions, no reservations. Bringing out a classic Sunday roast with some sausage or bread stuffing, turkey, clove-studded ham (or chestnut roast) and cranberries will get your customers in the mood for the festivities. You can also easily create a cocktail pairing for this limited Sunday roast menu. Try French Pornstar, a delightful, rich cross between Pornstar and French Martinis or simply serve up a Kir Royale which is the perfect compliment to the Christmas Roast dinner. Explore our Cocktails page for more ideas.
5. A visit from Santa and cocktail workshops
If you run a family friendly venue, getting Santa to come visit your venue can make for a big attraction. Choose a Saturday and/or Sunday afternoon and make sure to shout about it on social media. You can even pair this event with a gingerbread men decoration workshop to really make an event for the kids. If your venue is adult only, you can tweak the theme into Bad Santa and get your staff to run short cocktail making workshops to increase the dwell time and upsell the cocktails from the specials menu. Short cocktail workshops are a brilliant way to increase revenue and create a new, fun way to engage with your guests.
6. Meals for the old
There's over 1.7 million older people in the UK who have nowhere to go during Christmas. Just having someone to talk to during the holiday season is huge. If you're planning to keep your venue open this Christmas, consider allocating some space for the elderly guests to sit together. Offering free meals or working closely with the community can help the most vulnerable feel a lot less lonely this Christmas, particularly following several years of the pandemic. Speak to your food and beverage suppliers to enquire about support they could offer to make this possible. Email us at info@funkin.co.uk to speak about potential partnerships to support the elderly on Christmas day.
7. Don’t forget about marketing!
Spreading the festive cheer can be done via various channels. If you have a list of newsletter subscribers, send out regular emails encouraging them to book a table. If you have data from the booking sites you work with, target existing customers with an ad campaign. Post on social media to showcase your updated and utterly delicious festive offering. Use in-venue POS to advertise Christmas and NYE booking options - choose posters in the loos, table talkers, chalk boards and anything else you have at your disposal to spread the word amongst your regulars (after all, it's much cheaper to advertise to existing customers than it is to recruit new ones). Use our How To Make the Most of Social Media guide from the Tips and Tricks page.
And so here it is, 7 pieces of advice from us to you to make this festive season a success! November and December are some of the busiest months of the year in hospitality with many logistical challenges, but we know you got this!
