Valentine’s Day looks to have been a success for hospitality this year, with our latest figures showing that overall bookings were up 8% compared to 2024, providing a much needed boost for the sector at a time when every cover counts.

However Mother’s Day is fast approaching, and we still have a full year of occasions to look forward to and plan ahead for. With this in mind, what learnings can we take from guests’ booking behaviour on Valentine’s Day, and what can we as hospitality businesses do to adapt to customer behaviour, and increase bookings?

When are guests booking?

Whilst overall bookings were up 8% compared to last year, we did see some interesting changes in consumer behaviour when looking at how far in advance of the day they made their bookings.

Valentines Day itself, as well as the day before, saw the most bookings made, with a combined 55% of the total bookings in 2025 being made last minute. This is lower when compared to 2024, however, where last minute bookings made up 66% of the total.

The biggest shift in behaviour appeared for those booking 4, 5, or 6 days in advance. Whilst these bookings only made up 13% of the total number, we did see a 40% increase in bookings made in this timeframe compared to 2024. This was closely followed by bookings made over a week in advance, with a 22% increase on last year.

Combined with reduction in consumers booking last minute, all signs point towards a shift towards booking earlier this year.

What was the most popular time?

Broken down by session, dinner reservations were the most popular, making up 81% of bookings, followed by reservations for lunch at 17%. This breakdown is almost exactly the same as 2024, when Valentines Day also fell during the working week. Whilst a significant skew towards a post-work meal out is to be expected, it does still show a not insignificant demand for lunchtime reservations on special occasions, even if they happen to fall on a weekday.

During the evening, the hour between 18:30 and 19:30 was the most popular time to book for, making up 40% of bookings, and 19:00 itself coming out as the overall most popular time to book.

What can we learn from this?

Despite these trends indicating a shift towards booking earlier, the majority of bookings are still made last minute, presenting both a challenge and opportunity for operators looking to capitalise on occasions.

Firstly, real-time table availability is a must-have for any business’s bookings system. With the majority of guests booking either last minute or in the few days leading up to an event, and significant demand for tables during the peak hour on the day, it’s important to make sure your system isn’t making you miss out on any potential bookings. Our reservations and table management platform, Zonal Bookings, always displays live table availability on your website, allowing guests to immediately find a date and time that meets their requirements, and allowing them to book with confidence. This also eliminates any possibility of double bookings, and minimises the chances of a guest choosing to go elsewhere if your system wasn’t displaying the correct availability.

With tight integration into Zonal’s EPoS, automated updates also allow you to eliminate manual table updating processes that take up staff time, as well as free up tables to be sold again quicker. Once a table has paid their bill, the table’s status is automatically updated in Zonal Bookings and can then be released after a set period of time, allowing your team to set it up for the next set of guests and eliminate any delays in marking the table as available again – helping to better cater to guests looking for last minute table availability – as well as helping you to serve more covers!

Despite the last minute bookings rush, customers are increasingly looking to make their bookings earlier, and the right tech can help you capitalise on this trend. Setting up and promoting any special offers well in advance can be a great approach to encourage guests to book earlier, helping you to better plan staff and stock requirements; whilst adding upselling opportunities to both your booking journey, and any reminder comms, can help you boost revenue and increase spend per head from guests ahead of their visit.

Click here to find out more about Zonal Bookings, or alternatively get in touch to speak to one of our experts.

Bookings already up by nearly 40% compared to last year, new data shows

With the Guinness Men’s Six Nations rugby tournament set to kick off this week (Friday 31st January), the latest figures from leading hospitality technology provider Zonal, reveal bookings in pubs and bars are up a huge 38% for match times, compared to the comparable period last year.

Moreover, the insight from previous years’ trends shows that most bookings for Six Nations games are made just a week ahead of fixtures – in 2024, for example, 81% of bookings for the first day of the Six Nations were made within a week of the event. This suggests pubs can expect a further surge in fan bookings.

As the tournament progresses, in order to cope with demand, operators could think about offering incentives to persuade customers to book further in advance to help with planning for stock and staff requirements and ensure their booking systems are easy to use, optimised, and well promoted. Digital ordering, whether that be via the web or an app, can also help improve guests experience by enabling them to place orders directly from their seats, ensuring they don’t miss any of the game and help to reduce bar queues.

Tim Chapman, Chief Commercial Officer, Zonal, commented: “Technology is a crucial tool in making sure venues can handle the increased volume of bookings during major events like the Six Nations. Ensuring your booking platform is robust, and that staff are trained to manage busy match days efficiently, will be key to taking full advantage of this busy period.”

“By leveraging tools that provide real-time table availability and streamline the booking process, operators can ensure they’re well-prepared to capitalise on these high-demand dates and drive revenue throughout the year.”

Booking systems have become an essential requirement for running pubs, restaurants, and bars, but if it’s not something you heavily rely on, when it comes to maintenance, it’s also an area that often gets forgotten.

Outside of work, I’m part of a management committee for a community owned pub in North Wales, and it was one of the first things I set out to install and promote the importance of.

The site only has a 34-seater dining area, and we’ve historically been much more wet-led, with a lot of regular drinkers. However, after implementing table bookings, we saw an immediate uptake in online bookings, bringing in between 20-30 covers every day that we are open for food. This has helped hugely with the planning of bar and kitchen rotas, as well as stock ordering.

3 main reasons to implement a booking system:

When deciding whether to implement a booking system, there are three key areas worth considering, which also serve as important reminders for those who have already adopted a system:

1. Improving your customer experience

Convenience: Customers can easily make reservations online, at any time of day, reducing the to call. This not only allows the customer to do this at a time convenient to them, but it can also reduce the staffing levels needed at site.

We saw that over 72% of those who had booked online had made those bookings at times when the pub was not open – when no one was on site to pick up the phone.

Reducing wait times: By managing reservations effectively, the system can minimise wait times, improving the overall dining experiences.

2. Improving operational efficiency

Better table management: A booking system helps optimise table assignments and turnover rates, ensuring that tables are used effectively. Having a two-way integration between your POS and booking system means you have real-time awareness of what stage a guest is at in their visit.

Before we had a booking system at our community-owned pub, we had a pen and paper diary, so we were much more reserved when trying to plan table arrangements and assignments. It even stopped us taking bookings with confidence.

Staff management: Having systems in place can assist with better forecasting of busy periods, aiding in appropriate staff scheduling and resource allocation.

3. Enhancing data collection and marketing

Customer insights: Booking systems collect data on customer behaviour and preferences, which allow for measurements in trends and demand. Knowing what your online guests are wanting to make a booking for can help the operator make decisions on layouts, floor plans and menu builds.

Targeted promotions: Once you have a booking platform in place, you can link the data collected from the system into CRM and loyalty platforms to take your marketing activity to the next level. Loyalty programmes bring increased customer retention, engagement and revenue when able to adopt more direct and relevant marketing.

Introducing the Zonal Bookings Health Check

To help our customers get more out of their booking system, the Customer Success team at Zonal have implemented a “Bookings Health Check” for those who use the Zonal Bookings suite.

Who is it aimed at?

Our aim is to reach any Zonal customer who may need more support or who doesn’t have a big head office team behind them.

What to expect during the Health Check

The review is broken down into 3 areas. You’ll be able to choose from one of the 3 to be reviewed. These are: Pre-order, Capacity Management and Booking Journeys.

Once the review has been completed, you’ll be supplied with a document outlining any suggested changes that can be made, or an offer of support to discuss 1-2-1 over a Teams call – making sure you’re getting the most out of Zonal Bookings.

How to request a Bookings Health Check

If you’re interested in taking part in a Bookings Health Check, simply click here to complete the online application form.

Your request will be sent direct to the Customer Success team, and you’ll receive a notification from them to say that your review is underway or being scheduled.

To discover more about Zonal Bookings, visit  www.zonal.co.uk/bookings