It’s the most wonderful time of the year — not least because it’s the perfect opportunity to fill your restaurant with big corporate Christmas bookings. Here’s how to fill more festive tables and give these parties an unforgettable experience that keeps them coming back next year.
The festive season is prime time for businesses in the hospitality industry, giving restaurants, bars, and cafes a huge opportunity to capitalise on high footfall from Christmas revellers.
For restaurants, there’s an especially lucrative aspect of the Christmas period to help you drive more bookings, foster customer loyalty, and majorly boost your revenue: corporate Christmas parties.
At the end of a busy year, people want nothing more than to switch off from work and enjoy some yuletide merriment with their colleagues. What better way to do that than by gathering around a table at a great restaurant and tucking into a delicious festive feast?
Keep reading to discover our top tips for driving more Christmas party bookings and making these experiences unforgettable for your diners.
Promote, promote, promote
With almost every restaurant serving up a Christmas party deal, it can be tough to cut through the jingle-bell-filled noise with your offering.
Promote your party menu and deals far and wide, including on your social channels, mailing list, and promotional materials inside your restaurant. Make your offers clear and enticing, and share pictures of your festive setup to tempt diners’ eyes as well as their tastebuds.
December seems to come around faster every year, leaving an inevitable scramble for last-minute Christmas meal bookings. Take advantage of this demand by highlighting your availability for last-minute tables on your social channels, and make sure you’re sharing a bookable link — or using TheFork Manager’s booking widgets — so diners can secure their seats quickly and easily.
Make it feel exclusive
An extra-special time of year calls for an extra-special customer experience!
First and foremost, it’s vital that your customers feel like they’re getting their hard-earned money’s worth. Whether you’re a fine dining establishment or a more casual eatery, price your menu accordingly to give diners a great deal.
Empty tables and ever-increasing costs?
As well as considering your festive courses and how they’ll pair together — not forgetting options for dietary requirements such as vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free — don’t neglect to get creative with your drinks. You could offer up a cosy mulled wine or spiced apple on arrival, concoct a limited edition Christmassy cocktail, or choose a wine pairing with each course. Whatever you pick, make it good value and provide equally delicious alcohol-free options. Don’t forget to upload tantalising photos of your dishes on your website, social media channels, and TheFork listing to whet diners’ appetites.
If your restaurant has a private dining area, Christmas parties are the perfect way to make the most of it. Deck it out with a well-adorned tree, twinkling lights, festive table decorations and more to create a warm and inviting festive grotto that will put guests in the Christmas spirit.
For restaurants signed up to TheFork, you can use TheFork Manager’s restaurant management platform to attach your Christmas party menu to specific areas of your space, such as a private dining room or top table, making it easy to see at a glance how many festive parties you’ve got booked in.
Nurture year-round loyalty
Customer loyalty is for life — not just for Christmas. Diners eating at your restaurant with a group booking may not have ever been to (or heard of) your restaurant before if only one person planned the event. That means you’ve got an unmissable opportunity to dazzle these first-time diners with a Christmas feast that’ll keep your restaurant top of mind for their next meal out.
Offering great service goes without saying, but the festive period is notoriously busy for restaurants, so make sure you’re well-staffed to take orders promptly, don’t leave guests waiting around for food, and be on hand to top up their tipples.
Capitalise on their festive merriment by leaving a QR code on the bill to ask them to leave you a review or sign up for your mailing list. You could encourage them to act by offering a discount in January when diners are notoriously looking for great deals.
By delighting diners in December, you could unwrap a Santa’s sleigh-full of new regulars in the new year. To find out how to use TheFork Manager to drive more bookings in 2025, chat with our team today.
