Restaurant And Hospitality News – August 15, 2016
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In news this week, the Sojern North America Travel Trends Report uncovers the latest shifts in the travel sector, while Ruby Tuesday announces the closing of 95 underperforming locations to combat its falling revenue.
Sojern Releases North America Travel Trends Report
The latest North America Travel Trends Report from Sojern looked at a database of 350 million travelers to measure search and booking activity for the second quarter of 2016 to uncover the most recent shifts in the travel sector. Among the trends discovered by the report are that North American travelers are making shorter trips, with 43 percent looking for trips of a maximum of three days, compared to Europeans who are searching for travel for 12 days or longer.
The report analyzed travel between January 2105 and April 2016 in order to determine the most popular travel spots and their shifts in ranking; the top emerging and declining markets; who searches for the longest and shortest trips; and the average searching window for each state, including who searches first and last. The goal of the report is to help travel marketers plan more strategic and timely campaigns.
The study also looked at travel tied to sports, and found that in connection with the Copa America soccer tournament, Seattle, San Francisco, and Orlando were big markets for the games. “San Francisco and Chicago were the biggest origin cities driving people to Copa markets and it isn’t surprising when you think about how New York and Chicago are big markets with large populations of people from Central and South America. A lot of them would be excited to go see the games and it might be within easier reach than Colombia,” Kurt Weinsheimer, SVP of property solutions, Sojern, told Hotel Business.
The study also found that 1 in 3 travelers will spend more money on travel in 2016 than in 2015, with top destinations for U.S. travelers being Mexico, the U.K, India, Puerto Rico, and France. Among the top emerging markets are Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Liberia, and Cuba; while Trinidad and Tobago, Iraq, Saint Lucia, Azerbaijan, and the British Virgin Islands are the fasting falling destinations.
Ruby Tuesday Plans To Shutter 95 Restaurants In Wake Of Losses
Restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday has announced that it will be closing 95 of its underperforming locations by the end of 2016 in response to financial difficulties. As of May 31, the company reported a total of 724 locations nationwide. The company has not released a list of the affected locations. According to USA Today, company shares fell 10.2 percent after the chain reported fourth-quarter losses of $27.6 million. In the same quarter 2015, the chain reported a net gain of $4.3 million.
"The decision to close restaurants is a difficult but necessary step as we take aggressive actions to strengthen our organization," JJ Buettgen, the CEO, said in a release. "Performance at each of these locations, despite the loyalty of valued guests and the efforts of our dedicated employees, was not meeting expectations," he said.
According to the announcement, the Fresh Start Initiative, which includes the plan to close 95 restaurants, “will be achieved through the execution of several key strategies including an Asset Rationalization Plan along with programs to improve the food and beverage offering, dining environment and service at its namesake brand through a Fresh New Menu, Fresh New Garden Bar, and Fresh Experience. These initiatives will be rolled out in phases across multiple markets throughout the coming quarters.”
Buettgen explained, “Our fourth quarter was impacted by softness in the casual dining industry and increased promotional activity by our peers. Given that we expect the macro dining environment to remain challenging for some time, we are taking the necessary steps to change the trajectory of our business.”
Store closings will begin as of September 2016.