8 ways to maximise revenue this Christmas

Analyse your bookings and POS data from the last few years over the festive period to prepare accordingly, recognise trends and adapt staffing to match demand at each of these peaks.

Festive events

From scrumptious afternoon teas with a festive twist to sing-along evenings with Santa and silent disco nights with a DJ blasting yuletide hits, it's the season to be jolly and the only limit is your imagination. Whatever unforgettable event you're hosting, you can promote it to as many as 3.9 million monthly users on DesignMyNight and watch your audience grow.

It's worth noting that 42% of venue operators across the UK and Ireland planned to run more events in 2025, up from just 25% in 2024 and around 11.6 million people plan their holidays during the festive season, so having dedicated festive events at your venue or hotel could be the decider for potential visitors. Festive events are fast becoming a core revenue strategy, not an optional extra. 

Decor trends 

Deck your venue or hotel with 2026's leading looks, according to The Range:

Get a tree people stop for. Retro nostalgia is back - think 80s and 90s-style tinsel and bold glass baubles, styled with personality rather than perfection.

Build a colour scheme guests photograph. Pair rich jewel tones like emerald, plum and ruby red with warm gold for a look that reads premium in every shot.

Read upmarket with less effort. Swap the usual red and green for sleek monochrome - black, charcoal and brushed gold, if your venue leans towards a grown-up crowd.

Make your tables look considered, not thrown together. Heirloom tablescapes use tartan linen, gingham ribbon and brass candlesticks to give even a simple setting a finished, personal feel. 

2. Make sure your venue, hotel and dishes are Instagrammable 

Capturing and sharing special moments is a key part of the dining experience for guests today, whether that's a mirror selfie in your beautifully decorated bathroom or a series of shots of their food (even if it is getting cold).

Make sure your venue, hotel and dishes take the spotlight by plating up like a Michelin-starred masterpiece. Include aesthetically curated pictures of your dishes and venue space on your social media feeds, email signatures and printed menus, especially if you're planning to launch your festive offerings early.

Searches for "Instagrammable Christmas restaurants" are already surging  - up 900% year-on-year in Liverpool alone*. Diners are actively looking for venues and hotel stays worth sharing. Make sure yours is one of them. 

3. Offer festive build-your-own experiences 

From cookie decorating sessions to a build-your-own festive cocktail bar, getting your guests involved is a great way to attract more customers to your business.

Providing festive experiences goes beyond simply serving food and drinks. It helps your guests connect with your space, which in turn builds customer loyalty and repeat visits, and is a great way to spread the word about your business on social media.

ResDiary’s Beyond the Booking report confirms what many operators already know: 70% of diners say spending time with friends is their main reason for dining out, and 67% cite spending time with family. Christmas is the moment those motivations peak, and venues or hotels that create genuinely social, shareable experiences are best placed to capitalise.

If you're planning on setting up some DIY Christmas experiences this year, consider ticketing your event to manage capacity, streamline payments and track attendance. 

4. Secure your revenue with deposits 

Although no-shows are inevitable in hospitality, there's too much at stake around Christmas to let them affect your bottom line. Implementing a deposit process is a great way to protect your business and eliminate the risk of losing future profits.

The scale of the problem is significant: 59% of venues were impacted by no-shows in 2024, costing an average of £3,813 per venue annually. The good news is that diners are increasingly receptive to deposits - 65% say they are happy to pay one when making a booking, and 71% are comfortable providing card details. Venues who have introduced booking deposits have seen up to a 75% reduction in no-shows, helping them retain their revenue targets over the festive period. 

Depending on the demands of your business, consider asking for a deposit for larger groups and peak dates. 

5. Maximise profits with Christmas upsells 

Upselling is one of the best strategies, especially at Christmas, to boost your revenue and impact your sales. Create a tempting selection of premium options, add-ons and bundle deals to offer customers an enticing addition to any meal, hotel stay or dining experience.

With the average spend per head across UK and Ireland venues sitting at £45, even modest upsells of a festive cocktail, a sharing starter, a dessert upgrade, can move that figure meaningfully across a busy December service. For hotels, you can push festive spa and dining packages that are exclusive to guests to increase hotel revenue opportunities without spending any additional costs.

If you're planning on introducing upselling in person or during the ordering process, make sure your staff feel comfortable and confident offering the upgrades and, most importantly, that they know how to make the guest feel special.

Train your staff on the art of upselling, and programme your EPoS system to display upselling prompts during ordering. You can integrate your EPoS system with your CRM to track guests' preferences and purchase history, so your staff can offer more personalised recommendations and ultimately boost your revenue. 

6. Turn loyalty into profits 

Your loyal customers are your most valuable asset, especially during the festive season. Our loyalty report shows that loyal customers spend 67% more on average, and acquiring a new customer can cost 5–10 times more than retaining an existing one. With nearly half of diners already enrolled in a hospitality loyalty programme, the infrastructure is there - the question is whether your venue is making the most of it. 

Rewarding loyalty can be a real boost to your Christmas revenue, so make sure to offer exclusive benefits to those enrolled in your reward programme. 

7. Offer catering and take-home options 

With many restaurants ready to boost their foot traffic during the festive season, it's worth expanding your reach by providing catering services and tempting delivery options for those who prefer to celebrate at home.

The opportunity is significant: in London alone, hotel reservations for the New Year period (28–31 December) rose 18% year-on-year in 2025, with guests staying 8% longer on average - a clear signal that consumers are investing in extended festive experiences and looking for venues that can meet them where they are. NYE bookings average 3.9 heads per booking, and the 28–31 December window accounts for 61% of all NYE table bookings, so the demand is concentrated and predictable.*

Catering corporate events can also be a strong revenue-boosting idea for the festive period. Holiday parties, office launches and client gatherings happen throughout November and December, so make sure your venue or hotel is front of mind for local businesses when they're looking for their next caterer. 

8. Embrace technology, data and margin control 

Just as Santa relies on his trusty sleigh and elves to deliver Christmas presents, you can count on data-driven insights to create a truly profitable festive season. Analyse your past sales and understand customer behaviour to identify trends, optimise pricing and create targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with your audience.

Free up your staff time by automating manual tasks such as handling bookings, reminders, waitlists, table allocation, payment processing and online ordering.

Rotaready Evo takes the complexity out of labour scheduling, helping you match staffing levels to demand across your busiest December shifts without overspending on hours you don't need. Procure Wizard Evo gives you visibility and control over procurement costs, so rising ingredient prices don't quietly erode the margins you've worked hard to build. And Access EPoS ties it all together, giving you real-time sales data to make faster, better decisions throughout the festive period. If you’re operating a hotel property, you can tie all of this together into our hotel PMS which gives you a real time view of your entire operation in one place no matter how busy it is.

Think of your hospitality tech as a little elf handling all the behind-the-scenes tasks and making your life a little bit easier.

Make this your most profitable Christmas yet

Christmas revenue doesn't happen by accident. The venues and hotels that come out ahead in December are the ones that plan early, know their numbers and have the right tools in place before the rush begins.

Whether you want to reduce no-shows, fill more covers, upsell more effectively or get your staffing costs under control, we can help. Talk to our team about the hospitality software that fits your operation and make sure this Christmas works as hard as it should.

And for more guides, data and planning resources, visit our Christmas hub.