Figures from M&B show the number of festive meals sold in the first two weeks of December has ballooned from around 90,000 in 2011 to a stunning 260,000 plus last year.
Pubs and restaurants including Toby Carvery, Harvester restaurants and Sizzling Pubs have revealed that the number of bookings made throughout December to have nearly tripled in recent years.
In a survey 65% of consumers said that they would be having more than two Christmas dinners throughout December, with 7% revealing they’d be enjoying five or more festive feasts!
82% of people are expecting to celebrate with family and 64% of us are looking forward to this feast the most.
Celebrating with friends (30%) with the office party (20%) were also high on the list and interestingly, just over 10% of us actually look forward to work parties the least.
75% of us will travel under five miles as we are mostly keen to celebrate closer to home.
People living in the East Midlands travel the furthest for their Christmas dinner with nearly 20% of people travelling more than 21 miles. Incredibly, over 10% of people living in Wales & the South West will travel more than 50 miles.
Catriona Kempston, Marketing Director at Mitchells & Butlers, the company behind these statistics, comments; “Whether you’re entertaining friends and relatives, travelling to see family, or even having to work over the festive period, Christmas is rarely stress free.
"Whilst carving the turkey on the 25th is seen as tradition, our survey shows that in actual fact, more of us are having more than one Christmas dinner as a result of catching up with friends and relatives at their local Harvester or Ember Inns, festive parties at All Bar One and even as part of a Christmas shopping trip when taking a break at Browns.
“One of the reasons for this is the simple convenience of eating out. Not having to worry about cooking means that people have one less thing to think about – making the prospect of having Christmas dinner out much more appealing.”
Other stats revealed that Scottish families will be entertaining the most guests on Christmas Day, with 14% of those asked accommodating for 15 guests or more. And if you’re not tucking in to turkey, 37% of us would choose steak as an alternative.
(EDITOR: Along with a group of colleagues I will be attending a pre-Christmas dinner at an Indian restaurant.)
