The busiest day of the holiday season for pubs will be on Friday, December 23, with €5.2 million spent in total, according to AIB.
The data was compiled from over 75 million card transactions carried out by AIB customers in store and online during December 2022 and has been anonymised and aggregated.
New Years Eve
It shows that men spent almost twice as much as women in pubs (€3.4 million compared to €1.8 million).
The next busiest day for pubs was Saturday December 17 (€4.8 million) followed by New Years Eve (€4.3 million).
Wicklow Spends The Most
The research also shows people from Wicklow spent most during Christmas 2022 while people from Donegal spent the least.
“It’s the busiest time of the year for many businesses and they will welcome the fact that this year is on course to be as busy as ever, particularly in those final days in the run up to Christmas Day," said John Brennan, AIB’s head of SME Banking.
Casual Dining
Meanwhile, casual-dining restaurants and pubs with a food focus were the most popular channels for the Irish drinks trade during a three-month period.
This is according to the latest CGA by NIQ’s Ireland OPUS 2023 Report, which leverages on-premise market measurement, location planning, sales targeting, and consumer research to track consumer eating- and drinking-out behaviours.
The report shows a higher proportion of consumers visiting pubs, bars and restaurants for food-led occasions, but it’s drink-led visitors who visit the on-trade more frequently and spend more when they are out.
