Warmer weather on Sunday may have helped the hospitality industry enjoy a bumper-to-bumper weekend, a pub chain said.
City Pub Group said that after an “anaemic” Saturday, Sunday sales were “really, really strong”.
Extended pub opening hours were expected to give the sector a £104million boost, according to the Center for Economics and Business Research.
Trade group UK Hospitality said it was a weekend of two halves.
The City Pub Group owns 43 pubs in southern England and South Wales.
“Saturday was a flop – the weather was terrible and that was reflected in very weak sales,” said Clive Watson, the group’s chief executive officer.
“But Sunday was really, really strong,” he added. “Despite street parties, last year we were 82% better than this time. That’s a bit of a relief.”
He also said the first bank holiday in May was the chain’s “best weekend we’ve ever had” with sales of £800,000.
Around £200million was expected to be spent on food and drink alone over Coronation weekend, according to the Center for Retail Research, with consumers contributing a total of more than £1.4billion to the UK economy.
The chief executive of trade group UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls, said visitors focused the first half of the weekend on London and the coronation itself, while the second half was about communities and a “more normal bank holiday”.
“We have seen a higher footfall than we would normally expect at this time of year due to the ongoing Coronation activities. All in all, this could be worth £350m in extra revenue,” she said.
Businesses in London fared best, she said, with hotel occupancy in the center of the capital at 95% on Friday and Saturday nights.
The economic impact of the holidays will be significant, but also regional and weather dependent, Ms Nicholls said.
However, having three public holidays in May has put most households’ finances to the test, especially during the current cost-of-living crisis, she added.
“There is a limited amount of pocket money that people have. While you’ll get a boost from one or maybe two of them, you’re unlikely to keep it up all month.”
Ms Nicholls also said the four weeks with the addition of the Eurovision final on May 13 and the FA Cup final on June 3 would prove expensive for the British public.
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The mixed picture in hospitality over the weekend was reflected across the UK retail sector.
Figures from MRI Springboard suggest that footfall in stores across the UK was 13.2% lower on Saturday than on the same day last year.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at MRI Springboard, said the coronation “inevitably drew consumers away from stores and destinations as many watched the proceedings.”
However, footfall improved on Sunday – helped by better weather – rising 7.3% compared to the same time last year, despite falling slightly over the previous bank holiday weekend.
The overall impact of the additional holiday on the economy is difficult to gauge, as some businesses will benefit while others will be closed.
Last year, the Office for National Statistics said some companies saw sales fall in June after the bank holiday weekend for Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee.
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