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Getting Ready For The Festive Season Whether it’s your first Christmas and New Year running a pub, or your fiftieth, it’s always good to check you are fully prepared for peak season. Many hotels have their own checklist. For those that don’t, Hotel SA offers a few suggestions to get you started. DO THE BASICS • Watch your costs. Some Xmas menus are released eight months in advance, with set prices. There is a danger that some costs will increase during this time. If, for example, the price of beef soars, how will you ensure that you retain your margins? • As you add temporary staff to cater for peak demand, make sure your employment contracts are all in order. • Remind and train staff about their responsible service of alcohol obligations. The festive season does not dilute your obligations. • If certain dates are quiet, give them a special theme and then use your database to conduct email marketing. • Make sure you are using internal promotions (posters, TV screens etc) to publicise the right events Back to Contents
(that is, the dates that aren’t filling as fast as you would like). • You can also promote the fact that some dates are sold out. Nothing prompts people to book like scarcity. • Plug your Christmas menus and other promotions on social media. • If you are really nervous that numbers are down, harness the power of online advertising. Make sure you localise your ads, select the best keywords and use any profiling options (eg. tradies, white collar workers, female, male etc). • Introduce a deposit for peak days in order to limit “no shows”. • Also, use automated technology through your booking platform – or organise a member of staff to phone each reservation contact – to ensure you aren’t faced with empty tables. • Advertise your opening hours, including the bottle shop. • Reorganise your bottleshop so that easy gift ideas that attract good margin are prominently displayed, so that busy shoppers can ‘grab and go’. W W W . A H A S A . A S N . A U
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