After two years of disruptions, Australians are flocking to their local pubs to celebrate Christmas Day with friends and family.

A week before Christmas, Endeavour Group’s ALH Hotels had already booked almost 95% of its capacity compared to 85 percent at the same time pre-pandemic in 2019. The venues were expected to fully book out by Christmas Day.

“Aussies are really looking forward to getting together with friends and family this festive season after two years of disruptions,” ALH Hotels General Manager Operations Lukas McKay said. 

“We started to see strong demand for Christmas Day back in September, and we put these booking numbers down to the fact that people have a higher level of confidence in planning and booking in advance now than they have over the last two years.” 

Almost 42,000 guests booked lunches on December 25 at the 251 hotels in the ALH fleet hosting Christmas celebrations. 

“Celebrating Christmas Day at the local pub removes the stress of hosting, which means guests can focus on connecting with friends and family,” Lukas said.

In total, almost 500,000 oysters, 20 tonnes of ham, 25 tonnes of prawns and 500,000 plum puddings were expected to be served throughout December at ALH Hotels. 

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