Scotland’s hospitality sector is incredibly robust - it accounts for one in every 10 jobs and contributes in excess of £5 billion to the economy according to data from Holyrood.

But having just returned to pre-pandemic levels, it’s also now battling staffing shortages, increased regulation, soaring energy costs and a fall in consumer spending due to a cost of living crisis not seen in generations.  It may sound all a bit doom and gloom, but data from our VenueScanner platform suggests that venue demand is still incredibly high across Scotland. And so businesses that can pivot in order to take advantage of current booking trends have a real opportunity to weather the current storm and grow as a result.

Party bookings are increasing year on year with Edinburgh and Glasgow’s pubs and restaurants topping the list of the most popular venue types for party bookings. This means there is a huge opportunity for them to market themselves accordingly, focusing on party bookings that generate higher revenues to cover their increasing costs.  There’s also an opportunity to stand out from the competition by offering a wider range of activities - poker nights, games nights, or even pizza and sushi making - as a way of capturing the attention of party bookers.

Meeting space bookings since before the pandemic have massively increased in both Edinburgh and Glasgow, while conference bookings are also on the rise across the board.

And while hotels account for a portion of business venue searches, organisations are also increasingly looking for more unusual spaces to host their meetings and company gatherings including warehouses and galleries, as well as bars and restaurants too. In fact, in Edinburgh bars and restaurants account for three times more business bookings than hotels do.

Given we are seeing a serious decline in consumer spending, especially in mid-range bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels, this data shows that venues able to diversify their space for business offerings can increase footfall and fill more of their downtime. 

Meanwhile, as businesses are employing more people remotely, the need for colleagues to connect in person has given rise to more demand for company offsites and one-day to multi-day event and overnight stays. This has led to significant growth in company away day events across Scotland.

This represents another huge opportunity for Scotland’s event venues, hotels and even pubs, bars and restaurants to diversify their revenue streams by marketing themselves as great away day locations, whether it be for creative workshops, scavenger hunts, exclusive events or immersive experiences.

Given the significant challenges facing Scotland’s hospitality businesses, diversification will be key to future growth. Data from VenueScanner clearly shows that the opportunities are there - yes for party bookings, but the real opportunity lies in a venue’s ability to pivot to a business audience.

Whether that’s transforming their space to accommodate a company away day or turning their empty tables into hot desks, Scotland’s hospitality sector is a resilient, vibrant and adaptive one and it will come out the other side stronger and more profitable as a result.

Rebecca Kelly is CEO and co-founder, VenueScanner