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Dining out was a growing trend in the pre-pandemic days. Two deadly waves of Covid-19 and extended periods of strict lockdown saw most of us confined within the four walls of homes. With the pace of vaccination accelerating and Covid-19 cases falling steadily, people are now rediscovering the joys of dining out. According to the latest figures, shared by Dineout, India’s largest dining out and restaurant tech platform, the average order value at restaurants (ATV) has increased by over 20% across India, compared to the February levels.

Eating out– the new fad

Dining out is now witnessing a trend that was seen in travel and tourism earlier. As soon as the Covid-19 cases started coming down, people started frantically booking travel tickets and lodging rooms at tourist spots. Riding the wave of, what is called ‘revenge tourism’, hotel, travel and airline stocks have been notching up good gains on the BSE.

Indian Hotels, Chalet Hotels, Lemon Tree Hotel shares have been witnessing good buying interest. According to a Mint report, airline stocks like SpiceJet also rose over 4% on the BSE as airlines are now allowed to operate domestic flights at a maximum of 85% of their pre-Covid capacity from 72.5% earlier.

Small cities drive consumption

Analysts are of the opinion that revenge tourism, and now revenge dining, are now sure shot indicators that India is on the move.

Interestingly, tier-II and -tier III cities are driving the dining orders, with cities such as Agra, Ludhiana and Indore registering average order value at restaurants (ATV) growth of 24%, 35%, and 29%, respectively.

Smaller cities, it seems, are driving the post-pandemic economy. According to Dineout, smaller cities like  Agra and Ludhiana have posted the largest ATVs, with average orders of Rs 2,509 and Rs 2,766, respectively.

The working of home, couped with higher disposable income,  is one factor that is driving up consumption patterns.

It was reported earlier in June that food delivery apps had seen a spurt in demand from tier-II cities. Swiggy had said that cities like Tirupur and Jodhpur saw greater adoption of food delivery

Metropolitan cities such as Delhi and Kolkatta are also showing a remarkable improvement in business, with some reported twice as much business compared to what they were getting in before the second Covid wave hit the country.

Ankit Mehrotra, the Co-founder and CEO of DineOut was quoted in several reports, as saying, “Most food lovers across the country have been sitting on the fence for over a year and a half about going back to their favourite restaurants in town. It’s understandable why millions are now thronging to their favourite eating joints as the COVID-19 health advisory is lifted, and that they can finally step out, and into their favourite restaurants and not be forced to have their meals on their couch.”

Luxury dining

According to Dineout, the demand for luxury dining across the country shot up by 120%, while the market for fine-dining restaurants increased 105%. Lunch-hour bookings increased by around 39% in August compared to February.

As far as lunch hours were concerned, restaurants in Hyderabad and Chennai reported maximum business, while cities such as Bengaluru registered 44% lunch-hour bookings in August compared to 24% in February.

According to the report, diners are also responding to the drives being carried out by restaurants to vaccinate their staff. Of the nearly half a lakh outlets listed in DineOut, 67% were reported to have fully vaccinated their staff.