Latest news with #reservations
Travel Weekly
18-07-2025
- Travel Weekly
Advance reservations suspended for USS Arizona Memorial tours
The National Park Service announced that, effective July 9, it has suspended 56-day advance reservations for USS Arizona Memorial tours. This means that reservations cannot be made for Sept. 3 or later for tours to the memorial by boat. The park said the change will not affect existing reservations, as those bookings will be honored. The visitor center, museum galleries and grounds and other tours remain open. "Visitors arriving after Sept. 3 may still be able to tour the Arizona Memorial, but access will be on a first-come, first-served basis, or through the normal reservation process where reservations are released the day before," the park service said in a news release. According to its website, USS Arizona Memorial reservations are released daily at 3 p.m. HST, and tickets can be purchased on The pause comes as preservation work is being done, including "removing two World War II-era salvage platforms attached to the USS Arizona." There is no timeline as to when the work will be completed. The National Park Service said to visit the Pearl Harbor National Memorial website or social media accounts for updates on the status of advance reservations.
CBC
17-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Why restaurants in Quebec can now charge for reservation no-shows
Quebec restaurants are now allowed to charge up to $10 for each no-show. This applies to reservations of two or more people and restaurants will have to clearly inform customers that no-show charges may apply when making a booking.
CTV News
17-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Que. implements $10 no-show fee for missed reservations
Watch Novantuno Restaurant Group Co-owner Massimo Lecas on the Quebec restaurant industry being in favour of the recently implemented no-show fee for reservations.
Forbes
15-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Tock Looks Back On And Celebrates 10 Years As An Industry Disruptor
Tock, a restaurant booking platform that pioneered prepaid dining reservations, is celebrating its tenth year in 2025. The tool aims to decrease reservation abandonment, contributing to potential cost savings. Its introduction a decade ago disrupted the restaurant industry and marked a shift in reservation management. Tock's origin story starts with a frustrated restaurant owner. Nick Kokonas, the co-founder of three-Michelin-starred Alinea in Chicago, was facing challenges. Even as one of the most sought-after fine dining destinations in the country, Alinea continued to experience hurdles like last-minute cancellations and no-shows. Dr. Larry Yu, a professor of hospitality management at The George Washington University, has commented that 'the general understanding in the U.S. restaurant industry is that about one out of five customers often do not show up for restaurant reservations. Effectively a 20% no-show rate across restaurants, pubs, and bars in the U.S.' This reservation absenteeism had a major impact at Alinea, where the tasting menu dinner can cost upwards of $300 a head. Kokonas realized that other big ticket experiences—like concerts, hotels and flying—all had systems in place to deter last-minute cancellations and no-shows. So, he set out to bring the same level of accountability to the restaurant industry. Kokonas created an in-house system that required people who wanted to reserve a table at Alinea prepay for their meal. This approach provided greater consistency in managing inventory, staffing and revenue. The restaurant's no-show rate was basically eliminated. This success soon attracted interest from other restaurateurs and in 2014, Kokonas transformed the platform into an independent company, Tock. Tock data suggests that requiring some form of upfront commitment—whether a deposit, credit card hold, or full prepayment—can significantly reduce no-shows. Even a small deposit at the time of booking tends to lower absenteeism, with fully prepaid reservations showing the most dramatic impact. 'We saw an opportunity to completely rethink reservations,' Matt Tucker, head of Tock, said in an email. "At Alinea, a no-show wasn't just inconvenient. It was costly. Instead of continuing with the status quo, we introduced our own product, Tock, and prepaid bookings to the industry. Tock gave restaurants financial certainty, reduced friction for the guests and the restaurant, and allowed us to treat reservations more like ticketing for an experience.' The prepaid reservation system began with Alinea, and eventually evolved. Tock has now been adopted by more than just restaurants—wineries, pop-ups and experience-driven businesses are using the system to gain stronger guest commitment. According to Tock, there are now over 7,000 businesses that use and benefit from the system. When reflecting on some of the first restaurants to use Tock, Tucker says they all had something in common, they were "innovators who wanted to challenge the norms." "Whether it was OTOKO in Austin rethinking omakase, or Cow by Bear throwing anonymous dinner parties in San Diego, these restaurants valued experience," Tucker said in an email, "Tock let them monetize that experience in a thoughtful, sustainable way.' The Tock 10- The Firsts To commemorate its birthday milestone, Tock is looking back on its 10 years with 'The Tock 10.' This monthly collective celebrates 10 businesses that use the tool and groups them together under a common theme. The "Tock 10-The Firsts" list highlights some of the first restaurants who believed in the benefit of Tock and adopted the tool. Alinea (Chicago, IL) Lazy Bear (San Francisco, CA) Staplehouse (Atlanta, GA) Kadence (Orlando, FL) Spoon and Stable (Minneapolis, MN) otoko x watertrade (Austin, TX) Cow by Bear (San Diego, CA) Smyth (Chicago, IL) OSAKANA (New York, NY) Inn of the Seventh Ray (Topanga, CA) • On what the model unlocked for growth: o 'For many of these restaurants who were early adopters to pre-paid reservations, it meant consistency and creativity could coexist. They had predictable revenue, more control over service, and fewer operational headaches.' • On the broader shift in hospitality: o 'The best dining experiences are more than just a meal. They're curated, intentional, and often interactive. The restaurants in the original Tock 10 understood that early. They paved the way for how restaurants operate today. Tock gave them the tools to succeed on their own terms.' • On what's to come: o 'We evolve with our partners. The needs of the hospitality industry are constantly changing, and we listen and deliver.'
Telegraph
05-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
My problem with being a restaurateur? Flaky customers
We are a small- to medium-sized neighbourhood restaurant, probably averaging 40 to 45 covers per night, serving simple but – we hope – delicious food. It's casual, but there are tablecloths and we hope to give nice service. But we sometimes have a problem: flaky customers. It's one shared by Olivier Vincent, the chef and owner of a 20-seater restaurant called L'îlot in the Loire Valley. For him, it's reached such a breaking point, he's decided to impose fines: if a group does not contain the exact reserved number of guests, they are now charged €15 (£12.92) per missing or additional person. It sounds heavy handed, but I wasn't surprised to read that Vincent had taken action – on missing customers, at least. For small, independent businesses, too many or too few customers showing up for a booking can have a big impact, in different ways. If you book a table of eight and turn up with six, we could have reconfigured and given that table to someone else. Or someone might have turned up hoping for a walk-in of two and we've turned them away, which is sad for us because it's horrible turning people away. If the big table had just called and said, 'I'm really sorry but we're going to be six now,' it's annoying, but at least you can reset the tables. A table turning up with too many people is annoying in a different way. I think we've had a table of nine that has suddenly been 14, which is 50 per cent more. Sometimes there is just genuinely not the space. Meanwhile, the people on the table are starting to get annoyed at you for not having room. What are we supposed to do? Sometimes people don't understand that as a restaurant you have a responsibility to all of your diners and not just one table. A table of eight turning up with 12 or 13 changes the dynamic of the room. A huge table will sometimes take over the restaurant in a way that isn't fair on the rest of the diners. I feel like restaurants are the final frontier of understanding that if you commit to coming you ought to pay. If you buy a theatre ticket and you can't make it last minute, you're not going to get your money back. The same with a massage or a ticket for an exhibition. For some reason that psyche doesn't apply to restaurants. Partly it's because you haven't paid for your meal upfront, although some restaurants now make you do that. People feel aggrieved about the notion of having to pay something to a restaurant if their plans change. I sometimes wonder what people think restaurants make, money-wise. When you look at a waiter, or a chef, does anyone think they are living a life of luxury? None of us are rolling in it. Mostly we do this because it's a passion. One or two people not showing up might not seem like a big deal, but actually it is a big deal financially. A table of 10 dropping to a table of six is a 12.5 per cent service charge of those four people that none of the staff are going to see. I don't think people realise that someone's pay cheque is instantly reduced if fewer people than expected turn up. The problem is definitely getting worse. A lot of customers lie about their reasons for not showing up, too. It is hard for us to negotiate that. Some restaurants make it very clear there are no exceptions. I don't know if I agree with that. Sometimes people genuinely have had an emergency. But sometimes people have a table of eight but one of their party is sick so none of them come, which is ridiculous. Part of the problem is people being reluctant to call on the phone. When we opened Cafe Deco I refused to have an online booking system, because I was so depressed by the fact people were so scared to pick up the phone and speak to a human. I hated the few experiences I'd had when I'd gone in to book a restaurant and been directed to the online database. Ultimately we had to move to a booking system because having to ring was putting off so many people coming. If you don't have to speak to someone, you don't have to take responsibility. If you're doing something that you know is going to be annoying for a restaurant, maybe if you don't have to speak to someone it's not so bad for you. The generation who started dining out before everything was digitised are better at ringing. It's the younger customers who are less considerate and less understanding of their commitment. We have a cancellation fee; if you cancel with less than 24 hours notice, you'll get charged. For tables over six, we take a £30 deposit per head up front, which incentivises people to figure it out. If you turn up with more people than your booking, it's really annoying but we're not going to lose money unless we have no space and they all walk out, so we have no plans to implement a fee for that. It's important to say that these cases are still the exception, rather than the rule. It just happens a bit too often. It doesn't give us the chance to give you the best experience, which is what our job is, and what we aim to do every time.
