Seasonal intelligence
When does your venue need you most?
Monthly occupancy, peak trading days, and quiet periods for UK pubs, restaurants and hotels — built from real industry data.
Plan the next 90 days of trade with HMRA
Use the calendar to spot your quiet weeks, then let us build the campaigns that fill them.
Pub demand is the most volatile of the three: a deep Dry January trough, a long summer garden run, and a December peak that can carry a fifth of the year's profit.
Monthly demand heat map
Trading volume index by month — hover or tap a tile for the insight.
Jan
55%
JanuaryVery quiet
- Trading volume
- 55%
- Very quiet band
- 55–62%
- Vs annual average
- -23pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Dry January trough — footfall and wet sales both dip hard.
Feb
65%
FebruaryQuiet
- Trading volume
- 65%
- Quiet band
- 63–70%
- Vs annual average
- -13pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Six Nations weekends and Valentine's food covers lift the mid-week lull.
Mar
72%
MarchSteady
- Trading volume
- 72%
- Steady band
- 71–78%
- Vs annual average
- -6pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
St Patrick's Day and Mother's Day drive two strong stand-alone trading days.
Apr
76%
AprilSteady
- Trading volume
- 76%
- Steady band
- 71–78%
- Vs annual average
- -2pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Easter and the first bank holidays open up outdoor trade.
May
82%
MayBusy
- Trading volume
- 82%
- Busy band
- 79–86%
- Vs annual average
- +4pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Two bank holidays plus long evenings — garden trade becomes the growth engine.
Jun
84%
JuneBusy
- Trading volume
- 84%
- Busy band
- 79–86%
- Vs annual average
- +6pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Father's Day, tournament football and sustained beer-garden demand.
Jul
86%
JulyBusy
- Trading volume
- 86%
- Busy band
- 79–86%
- Vs annual average
- +8pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
School holidays begin; family daytime trade adds to evening wet sales.
Aug
88%
AugustPeak
- Trading volume
- 88%
- Peak band
- 87–95%
- Vs annual average
- +10pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Summer high point — bank holiday weekend is often the year's best non-December week.
Sep
78%
SeptemberSteady
- Trading volume
- 78%
- Steady band
- 71–78%
- Vs annual average
- 0pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Trade normalises as the garden season closes; sport returns to the schedule.
Oct
74%
OctoberSteady
- Trading volume
- 74%
- Steady band
- 71–78%
- Vs annual average
- -4pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Quietest autumn month until Halloween weekend spikes late-night trade.
Nov
77%
NovemberSteady
- Trading volume
- 77%
- Steady band
- 71–78%
- Vs annual average
- -1pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Party enquiries convert — deposits taken now decide December's ceiling.
Dec
95%
DecemberPeak
- Trading volume
- 95%
- Peak band
- 87–95%
- Vs annual average
- +17pp
- Pubs range
- 55–95%
Annual peak — party bookings, walk-ins and New Year's Eve stacked together.
Colour scale — pubs trading volume
Range 55%–95%
Very quiet
55–62%
Jan
Quiet
63–70%
Feb
Steady
71–78%
Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct, Nov
Busy
79–86%
May, Jun, Jul
Peak
87–95%
Aug, Dec
Bands are scaled to each venue type, so a “peak” pub month and a “peak” hotel month sit at different absolute percentages.
Month-by-month — pubs trading volume
12 months
| Month | Trading volume | Band | Vs avg | Insight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55% | Very quiet | -23pp | Dry January trough — footfall and wet sales both dip hard. |
| February | 65% | Quiet | -13pp | Six Nations weekends and Valentine's food covers lift the mid-week lull. |
| March | 72% | Steady | -6pp | St Patrick's Day and Mother's Day drive two strong stand-alone trading days. |
| April | 76% | Steady | -2pp | Easter and the first bank holidays open up outdoor trade. |
| May | 82% | Busy | +4pp | Two bank holidays plus long evenings — garden trade becomes the growth engine. |
| June | 84% | Busy | +6pp | Father's Day, tournament football and sustained beer-garden demand. |
| July | 86% | Busy | +8pp | School holidays begin; family daytime trade adds to evening wet sales. |
| August | 88% | Peak | +10pp | Summer high point — bank holiday weekend is often the year's best non-December week. |
| September | 78% | Steady | 0pp | Trade normalises as the garden season closes; sport returns to the schedule. |
| October | 74% | Steady | -4pp | Quietest autumn month until Halloween weekend spikes late-night trade. |
| November | 77% | Steady | -1pp | Party enquiries convert — deposits taken now decide December's ceiling. |
| December | 95% | Peak | +17pp | Annual peak — party bookings, walk-ins and New Year's Eve stacked together. |
Annual average: 78% · Range: 55–95% · Bands scaled to pubs data.
Busiest days
- Friday
- Saturday (especially event-driven)
Quietest days
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
Peak & trough
Strongest month: December at 95%. Weakest month: January at 55%.
Around 80% of pub sales land before 9pm, with the sharpest peak between 6pm and 8pm.
Annual demand curve
Trading volume across the year, January to December.
Key events that spike demand
Christmas & New Year
Party bookings, walk-in wet trade and NYE ticketed events.
Six Nations
Five to six guaranteed high-volume weekend afternoons in Feb–Mar.
St Patrick's Day
A single-day wet-led spike with strong late trade.
Summer garden trade
May–Aug outdoor covers, weather-sensitive and hard to forecast.
Mother's Day
Highest food-led day of the spring — books out weeks ahead.
Halloween
Late-night, event-led weekend for wet and cocktail sales.
Major football tournaments
Euros and World Cups reshape the whole summer trading pattern.
Bank holidays
Sunday-night trade behaves like a Saturday.
What to do, quarter by quarter
Q1 · Jan–Mar
- Lock in Christmas party bookings now — run early-bird pricing through February to flatten the January lull.
- Build a Six Nations fixture calendar and pre-sell tables for every kick-off.
- Run a low- and no-alcohol menu push so Dry January drinkers still choose you.
Q2 · Apr–Jun
- Get garden photography shot and live on Google Business Profile before the first bank holiday.
- Price bank holiday Sundays as Saturdays and staff them accordingly.
- Launch Father's Day and tournament bookings eight weeks out.
Q3 · Jul–Sep
- Add family daytime offers to capture school-holiday footfall alongside evening trade.
- Capture emails and mobile numbers at peak — this is your cheapest December audience.
- Open Christmas enquiries in August while summer traffic is still high.
Q4 · Oct–Dec
- Ticket Halloween and NYE rather than relying on walk-ins.
- Chase party deposits weekly through November — unconfirmed enquiries decay fast.
- Book January's low- and no-alcohol campaign before the December rush starts.
Next step
Want to build a marketing plan around your venue's seasonal demand?
We'll map your quiet periods, peak trading days and event calendar against what's actually winning search and bookings in your area.
Book a free auditWhere to go next
Turn seasonal demand into a booked-out diary
The calendar shows when demand moves. These pages show what to run against it — city-level opportunity data, the specialist service for your venue type, and the pricing that covers the work.
- Compare your city on the Global Hospitality Opportunity Map
Twenty city destinations scored on arrivals, occupancy and tourist spend per venue, with a missing-footfall calculator.
- Choose the specialist service for your venue type
Separate programmes for pub marketing, restaurant SEO, hotel revenue management, local SEO and hospitality social media.
- Read the hyper-local marketing guide for quiet months
How radius audits, local storytelling and community events fill tables in the weeks the calendar marks as very quiet.
- See the pub marketing programme for quiet midweek trade
Midweek offers, quiz and live-music promotion and local search work aimed at the months the heat map marks as soft.
- Review hotel revenue management for shoulder season
Rate strategy, direct-booking pushes and OTA dependency reduction timed against your own occupancy curve.
- Compare HMRA pricing for seasonal campaign support
Weekly Starter support or the annual Super Deal, both including campaign planning around your demand calendar.