2017 set to be worst for spending in five years but hospitality still shines

11 December 2017 by
2017 set to be worst for spending in five years but hospitality still shines

This year is on course to be the weakest in terms of consumer spending for five years, figures for November indicate, but hospitality remains a rare bright spot.

That's according to Visa UK's latest Consumer Spending Index, which found that household expenditure was down 0.9% during the month year-on-year, following a 2.1% year-on-year fall in October.

Nonetheless, hotels, restaurants and bars enjoyed a 4.2% increase in spending in November 2017, making it one of just two categories (the other being miscellaneous goods and services) to see a rise in spending for the month.

"The gap between the performance of e-commerce and the high street widened again last month. Bricks and mortar retailers saw sales down for the seventh consecutive month, while e-commerce continued its upward growth trend, boosted in particular by consumers taking advantage of online promotions around Black Friday.

"It would appear that consumers are making further changes to their shopping priorities as a result of the increasing strain on household budgets. Cutbacks on big-ticket items, such as car purchases and bookings for Christmas trips abroad, led to the largest drop in spending on Transport & Communications in November.

"In contrast, spending on Miscellaneous Goods, which includes trips to hair and beauty salons and cosmetics and jewellery purchases, saw the largest increase, offering further evidence of the 'lipstick effect', whereby people opt for smaller treats while at the same time tightening their belts when it comes to larger purchases."

Hospitality stays steady amid record drop in consumer spending >>

Hotel, restaurant and bar spending a rare bright spot in a tough September >>

Videos from The Caterer archives

Are you looking for a new role? See all the current hospitality vacancies available with The Caterer Jobs

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking