Hospitality faces high pressure festive season

Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector is entering Christmas 2025 with strong demand but tightening margins, and the operators featured in our upcoming issue delve into the pressures behind the festive glow.

In rural and semi rural communities, Trevor McCann of The Corner House Bar captures the challenge facing small independent venues:
“This Christmas, our semi rural village pub faces unique challenges as hospitality increasingly becomes a luxury and a special treat rather than a regular outing.”
He says families “are choosing to visit less often, making each booking more precious and more pressure filled, to get exactly right.”

In the hotel sector, James McGinn, Managing Director of Hastings Hotels, notes that while demand is robust, the pressure is mounting:
“This festive season, demand for exceptional Christmas experiences remains strong, yet pressures on the hospitality sector are intensifying.”
Recruiting skilled chefs, rising wages and frozen tax thresholds, he says, are creating “significant operational pressures.”

Across Belfast, Eamon McCusker, who employs 116 staff across AMPM and The Chubby Cherub, describes a city operating at full tilt:
“Christmas is still our most exciting but most pressurised period.”
Despite later bookings and a more value aware consumer, he says “people still crave escapism” and that “those who deliver atmosphere, warmth and genuine hospitality will outperform and carry momentum into January.”

Large scale venues see Christmas as their biggest platform. Peter Ringland of Amelia Hall calls it their key moment for visibility:
“Christmas at Amelia Hall is the most exciting time of the year as we get an opportunity to showcase our beautiful bar to thousands of people at Christmas parties who might not otherwise have visited us.”

Offering the sharpest analysis, Michael Deane describes the sector’s economic reality with stark honesty:
“We will undoubtedly look back on what has been an absolute nightmare for restaurants and bars, and we should not gloss over it.”
He warns that margins have plummeted, stating:
“Profit margins have dropped from around twenty five percent to roughly five percent.”

Together, their voices reveal a sector full of festive resilience, yet navigating one of the toughest trading environments in recent memory.

Read the full feature in our upcoming issue for in depth interviews, sector analysis and the inside story on Christmas 2025 in Northern Ireland hospitality.