Restaurants in London’s SW19 postcode received an 18.7% spike in sales during the Wimbledon tennis tournament, new data from Barclays has revealed.
The data compared food and drinks sales from the two week period before the Championships to those during the tournament itself and found that the crowds who flocked to south west London to watch the tennis gave a significant boost to hospitality businesses in the local area. Spending on hotels and accommodation in SW19 also went up by 17.3% during the same period.
Marc Pettican, head of Barclaycard Payments, said: “Despite changeable weather, crowds arrived in their droves for the gripping Grand Slam. 2023’s record-setting Championships resulted in an increase in hospitality sector spending in the Wimbledon area, with both restaurants and hotels enjoying a boost.”
However, while spectators might have been enjoying the culinary delights of Wimbledon, men’s singles champion Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Novak Djokovic to claim the title on Sunday, instead headed north of the river for a taste of his native Spain during the tournament. According to The Telegraph, Alcaraz was a frequent visitor to tapas restaurant Cambio De Tercio in Kensington when he wasn’t on the court – reportedly dining there five times over two weeks.
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Though spectators to this year’s Wimbledon may have enjoyed the food and drink of the surrounding neighbourhood, when they were in the stands they had to be careful not to fall foul of the umpires when it came to loudly popping open bottles of bubbles.
This article was originally published by the drinks business and has been shared with permission.
