MA500 Edinburgh in pictures
More than 100 delegates travelled from across the country to Scotland's capital to hear about the opportunities and challenges Edinburgh presents to operators along with tips on getting involved in festivals, how to maximise sport in pubs and more.
MatchPint co-founder Dominic Collingwood outlined the benefits available to pubs that offer a variety of sports to delegates.
He said: "Sport is worth £83,000 a year in incremental wet value (according to CGA) and £40,000 of that is football. While football is 62.1% of pubgoers' favourite sport, 44% of football fans are also interested in watching rugby union in pubs."
Modern football fan
Collingwood added: "Some 16.4% of Millennial football fans want to watch NFL at the pub. The modern football fan, especially the Millennial wants to watch a broad range of sport."
But sport wasn't the only event pubs could capitalise on as Edinburgh Fringe Festival Society participant support officer Matt Lord advised delegates that festivals should form part of a pub's arsenal of money-making ploys.
The Fringe festival includes more than 3,000 shows across 300 venues, a third of which were held in bars and pubs this year.
Lord also outlined how the performances during the festival could be held in a plethora of different venues.
Generation Z
Licensees need to work hard to attract the illusive Generation Z, according the The Morning Advertiser's sister title MCA.
Senior client services manager Giles Smith told the MA500 crowd that while Gen Z go out more frequently than Millennials (2.3 times a month compared to 1.9 times respectively), eating and drinking outside their homes is lower down the list of priority leisure activities for Gen Z.
The most important factors for Gen Z when considering where to go out for drinks or food are inexpensive drinks, free Wi-Fi, an appealing atmosphere and environment, and a good crowd.
Smith said: "Food plays a big part for Gen Z, they want food choice and food quality, it's on their radar. As well as price and atmosphere, this group look for tech-savvy pubs where they can order and pay for food and drink from their phone. Pubs must adapt and improve their image to attract Gen Z."
