Europe’s leading online restaurant booking site, TheFork launches in the UK with 50% off food for two months every day of the week
As the UK continues to see more holiday destinations reopen this summer, new research from Europe’s leading online booking site, TheFork.co.uk, previously Bookatable, has revealed that 32% of Brits have missed trying local food whilst on holiday due to not going abroad this summer, with one in 10 (8%) admitting their favourite thing about going abroad is trying the local cuisine.
However, with increasingly unpredictable travel restrictions, nearly three quarters (72%) of Brits are deciding not to go on a holiday abroad this year, with many not knowing when they’ll get the chance to visit their favourite overseas holiday destinations again.
To help make this ‘new normal’ more palatable, TheFork.co.uk is launching in the UK by kicking off its Back to the Restaurant Event from 17th September to 17th November 2020; letting people get a taste of Europe right on their doorstep. Whether Brits want to savour Sicilian or Spanish delights, try a bite of Belgium, a taste of Turkey or the flavours of France; TheFork.co.uk is the app to discover and book fine dining restaurants, high-street favourites, casual cheap eateries or local hidden gems.
With a quarter (25%) of those surveyed saying they won’t be travelling as they can’t afford it, restaurant goers will be pleased to hear that they will be able to get 50% off their final food bill every day of the week, in over 100 restaurants across the UK for the duration of the festival.
As its name states, the Back to the Restaurant Event aims to encourage people back to restaurants to support the British hospitality industry in its recovery following nearly four months of closure due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Following the huge success of the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme which saw over 64 million meals claimed in the first three weeks[i], research revealed that a quarter (19%) of those who took advantage of the scheme, expect to eat out less often now that it has ended, with 40% claiming they can’t afford to eat out when it is full price, and 57% claiming that they were taking advantage of a bargain but after the scheme ended that wouldn’t be the case.
Patrick Hooykaas, Managing Director at TheFork.co.uk, says: “We are so excited to be launching TheFork here in the UK, celebrating with the Back to the Restaurant Event. Being the largest online restaurant booking system in Europe, we felt what better way to kick things off than with 50% off the bill at over 100 UK restaurants, allowing customers to enjoy cuisines and dishes they may otherwise have enjoyed abroad this summer.
“We know that it is an incredibly challenging time for the hospitality industry and that having empty tables is the costliest element for any restaurant. We’re hoping that through our festival we’ll see more and more customers venturing out to support their locals whilst enjoying great food for incredible prices.”
Lee Skinner, CEO, Inamo, says: “We’re delighted to partner with TheFork now that it has launched in the UK, and we welcome their support in the Back to the Restaurant Event as we encourage more first-time guests to join us whilst also thanking our loyal regulars with an incredible offer. It has certainly been a challenging time, but by providing this promotion to customers every day of the week, we are confident that we’ll be able to continue to serve our fantastic Asian fusion cuisine and provide our guests with the renowned Inamo experience.”
Whilst there are obvious perks with dining from home such as eating in your pyjamas, research shows that there is plenty Brits have missed about not going to restaurants during lockdown. Most notably, 37% of people have missed eating food cooked by someone else, with a quarter (26%) citing that they missed dishes that they cannot cook at home themselves, and a fifth (19%) of Brits admitting they miss eating food from different countries and cultures.
With thousands of restaurants and different cuisines available on TheFork app, Brits will be able to get their hands on their favourite dishes from all around the world, meaning they can enjoy a taste of Europe this summer without the need to get on a plane. And it turns out that the cuisine Brits are missing the most is Italian, with over a fifth (21%) favouring pizza for dinner, topping the charts ahead of Chinese and Indian food.
Brits top 5 favourite cuisines from around the world
1) Italian (21%)
2) Chinese (12%)
3) Indian (11%)
4) British (11%)
5) Greek (6%)
