Dine out and give back this festive season

LONDON, 18 October 2021: With 42%* of Brits more inclined to support local restaurants since the pandemic, OpenTable, the world’s leading provider of online restaurant reservations, has joined forces with Mastercard to launch Dine Local 2021 this November and December (1 November to 14 December). 

The campaign offers diners the opportunity to celebrate the festive season in style, give back to FareShare, the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste, and be in with a chance to receive a Priceless Surprise, all whilst continuing to support local restaurants.

When selecting somewhere to dine this festive season, new research by OpenTable shows that most Brits (35%) are choosing to dine locally to support smaller and family-run restaurants. Convenience (35%), going to places they already know (31%), and a desire to support neighbouring businesses (30%) were also highly cited reasons as to why diners prefer to dine locally. 

The OpenTable and Mastercard activation will roll out to diners over six-weeks:

• 1st – 14th November 2021 – With every booking made through OpenTable at one of the 150 Dine Local restaurants between 1st -14th November 2021, and seated by the end of the year, Mastercard will donate £5** per seated diner to FareShare, in support of their mission to tackle food poverty in the UK. The bigger the booking party, the larger the contribution, ideal for the 30% of diners who plan on having a big celebration with family and friends in a restaurant over this holiday season.

• 15th November – 14th December 2021 – Each day for 30 days, at 30 restaurants, Mastercard and OpenTable will bring Priceless Surprises to lucky diners in the right place at the right time, with the chance to eat and drink for free*** in one of the participating Dine Local restaurants in Belfast, Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester and Newcastle. With 43% of diners expecting to eat out up to five times during the festive period, there are plenty of opportunities to be rewarded.

With nearly a fifth (17%) of diners feeling more charitable than before the pandemic, OpenTable and Mastercard’s work with FareShare provides diners with the perfect way to give back. The research from OpenTable also unveils that the most charitable regions in the UK following the pandemic are London, with 26% of those surveyed donating more to charity, followed by Northern Ireland (22%), Wales (22%) and East Anglia (20%).

Scott Hudson, Senior Director, EMEA, OpenTable comments: “Our data shows just how important eating local and giving back has become to diners. That’s why we are partnering with Mastercard to provide even more of an incentive for diners to go local this festive season and support FareShare’s work in helping to tackle food poverty in the UK. Dine Local is a way for us to celebrate our local restaurants and demonstrate continued support for the hospitality industry.”

Agnes Woolrich, VP Marketing and Communications UK&I, Mastercard comments: “We are thrilled to be partnering with OpenTable on Dine Local 2021. At the heart of this campaign is joy. Diners can enjoy eating out in the knowledge they are making a difference to FareShare’s mission, and for the lucky ones, they will enjoy a Priceless Surprise as Mastercard covers their bill and supports restaurants who have weathered a very difficult 18-months.”    

Lindsay Boswell of FareShare, comments: “It’s humbling to know that diners are seeking to help people less fortunate than themselves following the events of the last 18-months. The funds raised from the OpenTable and Mastercard Dine Local activity will help us in our mission to take good quality food that would otherwise have been wasted, and redistribute it to over 10,500 charities and community groups supporting people at risk of going hungry across the UK.”

For further information on Dine Local 2021, visit: www.opentable.co.uk/DineLocal.

-ENDS-

For more information or to talk to an OpenTable spokesperson please contact:

opentable@wcommuncations.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

*According to a OnePoll survey of 2,000 people, representative of UK adult population age split, carried out in the UK between 12/10/2021 and 15/10/2021.

**To a maximum donation of £164,311.53

***Alcoholic drinks and service charge are not included

About OpenTable

OpenTable, part of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), powers reservations for the hospitality industry. OpenTable’s software seats more than 1 billion people per year and helps more than 60,000 restaurants, bars, wineries and other venues attract guests, manage capacity, improve operations and maximize revenue.

About Mastercard:

Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry.  We operate the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.  Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone.  Follow us on Twitter @MastercardNews, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.

About FareShare

• FareShare is the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste.
• It takes surplus good-to-eat food, which is unsold or unwanted by the food industry, sorts it in one of its 30 regional warehouses, and passes it onto a network of more than 10,500 charities and charity groups.
• These organisations then turn this nutritious food into meals for vulnerable families and individuals, many of whom are at risk of hunger, and struggling with unemployment, low income, debt, homelessness, family break up, dependency or other issues.
• Two thirds of people accessing FareShare food are children and families.