Press releases

Consumers prioritise taking off abroad over take-aways at home

10 August 2017

  • Overall spending on leisure in the UK fell during Q2 2017, according to the latest Leisure Consumer report from Deloitte;
  • Eating and drinking out of the home sees biggest quarterly fall in spending;
  • Millennials spend less on takeaways, TV/film subscriptions and other in home leisure;
  • Holiday and gym spending increases

Spending in the UK leisure sector fell slightly in the second quarter of 2017, as consumers became more cautious, according to the latest findings from the Leisure Consumer Q2 2017 report by Deloitte.

The quarterly survey of 3,000 UK adults found that the outlook for the leisure sector is less certain, with spending falling across all leisure categories compared with the second quarter of 2016. Restaurant spending saw the largest year-on-year decline, falling by seven percentage points.

The quarter-on-quarter picture is similar, particularly for areas of discretionary spending such as eating and drinking outside of the home. Spending in coffee shops and restaurants both saw a quarterly fall of four percentage points, while spending in pubs and bars saw a decline of three percentage points from the first quarter of 2017. In-home leisure, which includes takeaways and TV, film and music subscriptions, also saw a decline in spending, down two percentage points from the previous quarter. Significantly, amongst millennial consumers (18-34 year-olds) in-home leisure spending fell by 12 percentage points

Simon Oaten, partner for hospitality and leisure at Deloitte, comments: “There has undoubtedly been some loss of momentum in the leisure sector during the second quarter of 2017. Weak consumer confidence, driven largely by rising inflation and lower real wage growth, has led to household austerity measures which have particularly impacted restaurants, cafés and bars.

“It would appear that we are now beginning to see the same shift from discretionary to essential spending in the leisure sector that we have already seen in the retail market. Leisure consumers are switching from discretionary, experience-led activities in order to protect their everyday leisure spending such as their daily coffee or TV subscription. The question for the UK leisure sector is: can the leisure consumer continue to protect their leisure spending even as prices on the high street start to rise?”

Holiday spending
Holiday spending was one of the only discretionary leisure areas which saw an increase in spending in the second quarter. Long haul spending increased by four percentage points, while short haul spending increased by three percentage points from the first quarter of 2017. Spending on going to the gym also saw a one percentage point increase from the previous quarter.

Consumers remain committed to spending on holidays over the next three months, with the majority of age groups intending to spend more on holidays in the third quarter of 2017 compared to the previous quarter. Consumers aged 35 and over are expecting to spend more on both long and short haul holidays in the next three months. By contrast, millennials are planning to decrease their spending on short haul in the next three months, by four percentage points.

Oaten adds: “While spending on holidays was up quarter-on-quarter, the longer term trend shows that is has fallen year-on-year. These are the first signs of a weakening in consumer confidence with regards to holiday spending, and it remains to be seen whether this proves to be a blip or the start of a prolonged slowdown that echoes what we have seen in other areas of the consumer market.”

End

Note to editors

About the research
Deloitte’s Leisure Consumer Q2 2017 research aims to provide a view point on the key drivers of the UK leisure market, how consumer behaviour is changing and the impact the growth of the leisure sector is having on the broader economy. Spending figures are based on a consumer survey carried out by independent market research agency, YouGov, on Deloitte’s behalf. This survey was conducted online with a nationally representative sample of over 3,000 UK adults aged 18+ between 16 and 18 June 2017.

About Deloitte
In this press release references to “Deloitte” are references to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”) a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

Deloitte LLP is a subsidiary of Deloitte NWE LLP, which is a member firm of DTTL, and is among the UK's leading professional services firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

For more information, please visit www.deloitte.co.uk.

Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.

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