Teenagers spell out what they require from the hospitality industry
26/01/2022
While the majority of teenagers are still too young to visit hospitality venues on their own, they are clearly key future players for the industry.
This generation is about to come of age and they approach socialising in a very different way to their parents. Technology and social media play an important part in how they communicate and get their information about hospitality venues.
Now a new survey has revealed how they will make decisions about where they visit and what will attract them, and yes, technology plays a key part, but by no means exclusively.
The research by hospitality technology firm Zonal, in partnership with specialist research firm Trajectory, spoke to hundreds of 13- to 17-year-olds – both via a survey and in focus groups – to get a true sense of what they actually want and what they expect from the hospitality industry.
Face-to-face interaction still important
As many as 95 per cent of teenagers aged 13-17 own a smartphone and 69 per cent think technology has a positive impact on society but that doesn’t mean they want their socialising experiences dominated by screens or virtual gatherings.
According to the survey, Face-to-Face Time: The teenage take on hospitality and technology, the majority, 56 per cent, believe payments will be cashless, but what is still important to them is traditional face-to-face socialising, quality of food and drink and what it will cost.
When asked what is important when choosing a café or restaurant they replied:
- Quality of the food and drink – 63 per cent
- How much it cost – 52 per cent
- The way the venue looks and feels – 41 per cent
- Word of mouth – 35 per cent
- If it has WiFi – 34 per cent
- Healthy options – 27 per cent
The group was asked to rank how well various leisure venues used technology and some fared far better than others.
All teenagers considered pubs to be the worst in this area, followed closely by cafés and restaurants. At the other end of the scale, it was cinemas that were considered to be leading the way.
The mitigation for pubs here is that teenagers have more direct experience with the likes of cinemas and a perception that pubs are for older clientele, but it highlights that some businesses may have to work harder to appeal to and impress this potential market.
The sector is therefore well placed to consider and implement the findings to ensure that today’s teenagers will be your next generation of satisfied hospitality customers.
Commenting on the findings, Kate Nicholls of UKHospitality said: “This report shows that, while technology changes how we run our businesses and live our lives, the desire to socialise in person remains as indispensable as ever. Hospitality venues remain the best places to do that, as they have for centuries.”
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