7 Must-Know Christmas Trends for Hospitality Venues in 2025

1. Early booking

We see search traffic for “Christmas dinners” drop steeply by December, with customers locking in their Christmas plans between September to October.

Top tips for venues: Start marketing your Christmas offer by the 1st September, starting with your existing customers. Create urgency and demand for events by stating limited availability or by offering early-bird pricing rates.

2. Insta-ready venues

The demand for high-impact, photo-worthy spaces is stronger than ever. Christmas by appearance tops our search charts, showing that guests are seeking immersive environments with picture perfect opportunities they can share on socials.

Top tips for venues: Showcase your venue’s visual appeal with high-quality photos on your website and venue listings. Remember to make sure you have reliable guest Wi-Fi – this audience want to share their pics and tag your venue, so make sure they can.

3. Pop-ups and experiences

Whether it’s a Christmas movie night, an oompah band night or a cowboy-themed immersive experience – consumers are increasingly searching for unique experiences and pop-up events for their night out.

Top tips for venues: If you want to appeal to this crowd, get creative – consumers are looking for unique experiences they can’t find elsewhere. Christmas movie nights in unique spaces are a top converting event – think hidden rooftop, museum or in a hot tub. You can increase demand and exclusivity by making it a ticketed event.

4. Creative Christmas dining

As well as the high-energy all singing and dancing (quite literally) events mentioned above, consumers are also looking for unique dining experiences beyond the traditional turkey. Popular trending dining themes we’ve seen include Christmas afternoon tea and fondue.

Top tips for venues: Create limited-edition and short run special festive menus. This could be outside your more traditional Christmas dinner offer and appeal to younger crowds in the run up to Christmas.

5. Value-driven fun

With a high cost of living, consumers are looking for high-value, low-cost experiences where possible – especially in the run up to Christmas. Events with a price point under £20 convert especially well on our site with retro themes and social dining formats resonating with price-conscious guests looking for festive fun.

Top tips for venues: Tiered pricing can be a good way to attract guests at a price point that suits them. Offer a base level ticket that’s budget friendly, such as entry + welcome drink, then upsell with premium add-ons, such as reserved seating or festive cocktails.

6. Pubs make a comeback

Last year, searches for ‘Christmas pubs in London’ increased by a whopping 746% from October to December, demonstrating a demand for cosy, social settings with a Christmas flavour for casual festive get-togethers.

Top tips for venues: Whether customers are looking for lively nightlife or cosy pub visits – they want to feel like it’s Christmas. For pubs, you can make the most of your cosy venue with Christmas décor and Christmas food and drink offers to help with the festive feel.

7. Light trails spark magic

People looking for a bit of winter wonderland magic at Christmas have seen light trail events surge in popularity. For venues with large grounds to take advantage of, a winter light trail can be a big hit for a ticketed event.

Top tips for venues: To make your Christmas light experience a success, use timed entry slots to keep things organised and upsell with festive food and drink stations (think mulled wine huts or marshmallow roasting pits).