Hospitality in Australia has shown resilience in the wake of ongoing financial challenges, recording comparative overall growth of 10 per cent in FY25 Q3, according to an industry update by Quantaco.
The latest Hospitality Insights Report provides operators a measure of dynamic industry benchmarks, trends and opportunities.
Revealing significant growth across all major revenue streams, the report demonstrates that venue operators have maintained profitability, through both strategic price adjustments and improved operational efficiency.
“While gaming revenue is driving substantial gains, we’re seeing healthy increases across food and beverage as well, with operators successfully passing on increased costs to maintain margins,” notes Quantaco’s Mitchell Stone.
The figure of 10 per cent overall growth against 2024 results is the strongest performance this financial year, led by a 17 per cent increase in gaming turnover, which it’s suggested may be the result of consumers relocating from casinos to pub and club venues.
And bucking previous trends, beverage sales recorded nine per cent growth YOY. Food was not far behind, increasing six per cent. At the same time, the cost of wages dipped one per cent.
Gains are at least partly attributed to a 25 per cent increase in entertainment spending by operators, using the appeal as a strategic revenue driver.
“The data shows operators are getting smarter about using entertainment to drive foot traffic and sales,” added Stone.
“This investment, combined with effective labour management, is helping venues overcome inflationary pressures.”
Off the back of crippling inflation in recent years, hospitality continues to face challenges, particularly in operating expense. There has been a seven per cent rise in the cost of electricity and four per cent in security and other utilities. Cyclone Alfred proved a mixed result, contributing to an 11 per cent spike in bottleshop sales in March.
Also, the occasion of Easter being in April this year impacted quarterly comparisons with 2024, when it fell in March.
Quantaco has been providing specialised hospitality analytics for more than a decade and boasts one of the largest pools of pub and hospitality financial data in the country.
Analysis for the report is based on financial data from a broad cross-section of Australian hospitality venues.
The company has also produced other industry resources, such as its best practice insights on managing labour costs.