One in five people look past their local town when planning a night out

17-Sep-2018 - Last updated on 17-Sep-2018 at 08:26 GMT

Broader horizons: fewer people are confining their search to their local area when planning a night out, according to Deltic

The latest edition of the quarterly Deltic Night Index has highlighted that an increasing number of consumers don’t believe that their local nightlife is diverse enough.

Key findings

Total spend on a night out is £56.25, down from £59.40 last quarter and £59.66 this time last year
The average late night out is now shorter than it was a year ago, currently standing at four hours 34 minutes
More than half (56.2%) of respondents go on a night out at least once a week – up from 54.5% last year
Respondents are going out 1.27 times per week on average compared to 1.07 times a year ago
Almost one in five (19.5%) respondents who go on nights out choose to do so outside of their local town
Nearly a quarter (24.2%) of respondents split where they go out equally between their local town and travelling to another
Only 56.2% of all respondents would usually choose their local town for a night out over another location
Those aged 18-21 and 31-45 are most likely to stay in their local town for a night out, whereas respondents aged between 22 and 30 are most likely to go elsewhere.
When asked why they would choose to go out outside of their local town, the most popular reason cited by respondents was ‘a specific event that I want to go to’ (44.4%), followed by ‘my local town does not offer a diverse nightlife’ (33.1%).
More than a quarter of those who travel for nights out (28.6%) stated that their friends don’t live in their local town and 18.9% agreed that ‘the nightlife in my local town finishes too early’.
Of the 18-25 age bracket, the reasons for going out outside of their local towns were: their local town does not offer a diverse nightlife (40.5%) and the nightlife in their local town finishes too early (26.3%)

The report, published on 17 September defines that a night out is classed as such if the majority of the night is spent out past 10pm.

It examines changing consumer habits in the UK’s evening and late-night leisure sector, surveying more than 2,000 people each quarter on subjects ranging form spend, frequency and motivation behind a night out.

This quarter’s edition focuses on where consumers go out, how far they’re willing to travel and what motivates them to travel and ultimately spend outside of their local town for a night out.

Work to be done

Peter Marks, chief executive of the Deltic Group, the operator of 55 clubs and bars across the UK and an employer of more than 3,000 people, commented:“This quarter’s Deltic Night Index shows us that consumers are happy to spend both time and money on a fun, unique nights out.

“For me, a few stats stood out from this report: that almost 20% of people don’t go out in their local town; 18.9% of consumers go out in another town because the nightlife in their local town finishes too early; and 33.1% do not think their local town offers diverse nightlife.

“These three stats show us that there is still much to be done by operators and local Governments around investment, licensing and security to improve the offerings in our local towns, and together we can ensure that that the 20% enjoy a great night out closer to home.”

How far will people travel to visit a pub?

The latest instalment of the Deltic Night Index highlights that people look beyond what’s local when planning a night out, but that consumers are least willing to travel long distances for a night at the pub.

Asked how far respondents were willing to travel for a good night out, the average responses were: