Australia’s restaurant calendar is packed with holidays, as well as sporting and seasonal events. Preparing in advance for these promotional days can give your team a significant advantage, and help set you up for ongoing success.
Left to the last minute, however, these dates can complicate matters for both your team and your revenue, including challenges like dealing with a short-staffed kitchen on a busy public holiday, to a group no-show on a table you had to turn others away for.
The appetite for dining out during special occasions already exists. Australians budgeted an average of $215 for eating out over the 2025 festive season, according to Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker. How much of that spending can actually land at your restaurant? That depends on when your bookings open, how you protect them and whether your guests return once the season ends.
To keep track of these dates, your restaurant holiday marketing plan should align with the Australian calendar. The 16 holiday marketing ideas below follow the year month by month, with a lead time for each one so you can plan ahead. Keep our Australian restaurant marketing calendar handy for the dates in between.
16 restaurant holiday promotions, month by month
1. Book 26 January as a prepaid long lunch (January)
Picture it: it’s peak summer, a public holiday and one of the hardest days of the year to roster. An à la carte service would leave a thin kitchen team preparing the full menu while demand fluctuates throughout the day.
A prepaid set-menu lunch can solve both problems. Your kitchen would know how many covers to prep for, you’d secure the revenue before service and make the most of your outdoor seating in the summer weather.
2. Host themed experiences for the Australian Open and the Australian Grand Prix (January and April)
Melbourne hosts two major sporting events: the Australian Open (main draw 17 to 31 January 2027) and the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix (1 to 4 April 2027). Both are broadcast nationally, so this idea works for venues across the whole country.
Screenings can bring in plenty of walk-ins, but those guests may not return if you don’t capture their details to invite them back.
A themed experience gives fans something to book ahead for: a menu and signature cocktails inspired by the event, the match or race on a big screen and the best seats saved for the biggest moments. Sell it as a prepaid seat or ticket on its own experience page, so you know who’s coming before the first serve or the formation lap.
3. Plan Valentine's Day around ticketed sittings for couples (February)
An à la carte Valentine’s Day service can leave couples lingering at their tables while later bookings wait to be seated. Two or three fixed sittings with a set menu and deposit give every table a defined start and end time.
Open bookings in early January and leave 15 minutes between sittings for the table reset, so the next service can start on time. When you promote the date, link straight to 14 February on your booking page so couples don’t land on today’s availability.
For more inspiration, from punny menu names to a dedicated Valentine’s landing page, see our Valentine's Day marketing ideas and The Ultimate Valentine's Day Guide for Restaurants.
4. Build a Lunar New Year set menu for groups (February)
Lunar New Year follows the lunar calendar and falls on 6 February in 2027. Because the celebration centres on sharing food, it’s a natural fit for group bookings and a perfect occasion to offer a banquet-style set menu at a fixed price per person.
Open bookings at least four weeks ahead to give groups time to plan. If you’re looking for more inspiration to celebrate this holiday at your venue, check our Lunar New Year guide.
5. Turn Easter into a family booking with a kids' offer (March or April)
Easter brings a four-day long weekend (26 to 29 March in 2027), with families and daytime dining driving much of a restaurant’s business. A fixed price for kids or a kids-eat-free offer with every adult main makes the booking more appealing to families.
Guests often book restaurants ahead for long weekends, so launch the promotion at least four weeks ahead.
6. Keep Anzac Day simple and check your trading rules (April)
Remember that Anzac Day on 25 April is first and foremost a day of commemoration. Trading and licensing rules vary by state, so check the rules that apply to your restaurant before publishing your opening hours.
The day also calls for a respectful approach to marketing. A breakfast after the dawn service or a set lunch can work, but avoid discounts or anything that makes the day feel gimmicky or like a sales opportunity.
For pubs and larger venues with outdoor space, two-up is a popular Anzac Day tradition that can draw big crowds. The coin-toss game is only legal under conditions that differ from state to state, some involving the RSL or a permit, so confirm your state's conditions before you plan a game.
7. Stagger Mother's Day sittings and take deposits (May)
Mother's Day (9 May in 2027) is probably one of the biggest booked lunch days of the Australian year. Stagger sittings 15 to 30 minutes apart so the kitchen can pace orders instead of receiving them all at once.
Keep the menu to a set price and take a deposit with every booking. For more ideas on filling your dining room during this holiday, take a look at our Mother's Day guide.
8. Launch the winter menu on the King's Birthday long weekend (June)
The King's Birthday long weekend (14 June 2027 in most states, later in Western Australia and Queensland) is the first long weekend of the cold season. Use it to launch your winter menu while guests are already looking for reasons to dine out.
Build the menu around seasonal ingredients rather than a discount. A new menu gives guests a reason to book, while keeping your regular pricing sets the tone for the season.
9. Run Christmas in July as a full set-menu event (July)
Christmas in July gives restaurants a strong reason to drive group bookings during the slower winter months. Guests can enjoy a traditional Christmas meal, including roast, pudding and crackers, at a time of year when the weather suits it.
Run it as a ticketed event with a set menu, group bookings and deposits across several nights rather than just one. Offer mulled wine or hot chocolate as limited-time offers to reinforce the theme without overhauling the menu. Start promoting in late May.
10. Sell prepaid upgrades and events for dads on Father's Day (September)
Father's Day (5 September 2027) is typically a family lunch, and the guest of honour usually isn't the one making the booking. Add prepaid upgrades to the booking flow, such as a drinks pairing, upgraded menu or preferred table.
Guests are willing to pay for extras: 28% of Australian diners say the option to customise a special occasion ahead of time would make them spend more, as our 2026 Australian Holiday Revenue Guide shows. Prepaid upgrades secure that additional spend before the date arrives. A ticketed event for dads, such as a whisky tasting, can work too.
11. Package the AFL and NRL grand finals (September and October)
Grand final day can bring high foot traffic, but much of it comes from walk-ins rather than bookings. In 2027, the AFL grand final moves to Saturday 2 October at the MCG. Check the NRL date before you build your package.
Turn some of that demand into confirmed bookings with a minimum-spend package, such as a reserved table with a screen view and share platters. Capture the details of walk-ins at the door with an online waitlist so you can market to them after the event.
12. Run a Halloween late-night happy hour (October)
Halloween (31 October) is better suited for a late-night add-on rather than a full service. Run a themed holiday happy hour after the dinner rush, with drink specials and a short bar menu to allow guests a chance to stay out later celebrating.
Keep the happy hour specials at the bar while the dining room has its usual menu, so the promotion adds extra revenue without disrupting dinner service.
13. Take deposits on Melbourne Cup long lunches (November)
Melbourne Cup Day (3 November in 2026, 2 November in 2027) brings large groups, long lunches… and a high risk of costly cancellations. Let’s say a group of 12 people cancels at 10 am: in that scenario, there may not be enough time to fill those tables before lunch service.
That’s why you should take card details or a deposit for every group booking, set a clear cancellation window and confirm final numbers during the week before.
14. Open work Christmas party bookings early (November and December)
Work Christmas parties are often planned months before the event, according to a specific budget and number of attendees. For organisers, the booking itself is often the hard part. According to our holiday revenue guide, 85% of Australians who booked a group dining experience or private event in the past year hit at least one frustration before securing it.
Open bookings in September, before the holiday season gets busy, and make your packages bookable online with everything an organiser needs to compare: a set price per person, the minimum spend for a private section, buyout options for larger teams and live availability. Organisers can book without waiting on a reply, and your team spends less time on back-and-forth emails in the busiest weeks of the year.
Ask the organiser for the guest list when they confirm final numbers. After the event, you can send targeted messages and promotions to attendees who have already been to (and enjoyed) your venue. That goes beyond the one booking attached only to the organiser.
15. Add takeaway and catering for Christmas at home (December)
Many potential customers are hosting on Christmas Day, not planning to dine out. However, a great deal of them would prefer to outsource part of the holiday meal to lessen the holiday workload, whether it’s a seafood platter or a pavlova.
That’s where your restaurant has an additional opportunity to reach clients in their own homes. Offer meal boxes, platters or catering services to add revenue without needing more covers at your own venue. Take orders through your online ordering system, set a cutoff a few days before Christmas and assign each order a Christmas Eve pickup window.
16. Sell New Year's Eve as a prepaid ticket with a set sitting time (December)
New Year's Eve is one of the easiest dates to sell in advance because guests plan their celebrations weeks ahead.
Sell it as a prepaid ticket with a set menu and fixed sitting times. You have revenue beforehand, a stronger guarantee that your customers will show up, and a defined end time lets you reset the room for a second sitting, such as a 9pm service.
For many guests, the countdown is the main event, and the view is part of the celebration. Offer seats with a view, such as a window table or a terrace facing the fireworks, as a prepaid upgrade at booking. Australian venues that adopted prepaid upgrades in December 2025 saw a 46% increase in average check per cover, according to SevenRooms data.
Four tips to run successful holiday promotions
It would be virtually impossible for any team to run all of these 16 restaurant holiday promotion ideas in a single restaurant. We advise you to pick the dates that suit your venue and then take each through the following four steps.
1. Choose promotions related to what your kitchen already knows how to do
Start with three questions: Does it fit what the kitchen already does? Does it fall on a night that needs filling? Can you run it without pulling your best staff off the floor?
Be clear about what a promotion can do. In SevenRooms' survey of 2,009 Australian diners, more than half (59%) say food quality is the top factor when choosing where to book for the holidays. Loyalty rewards, perks or holiday promotions influence just 11%, while a seasonal menu influences 10% (2026 Australian Holiday Revenue Guide).
A promotion can bring a guest through the door once, but the food and the follow-up are what give them a reason to return.
Ticketed sittings and holiday events are easier to manage when your event management tools work alongside your reservations, keeping bookings and event details in one place.
2. Promote each date on its own lead time
Restaurant holiday marketing ideas mostly run through email and text, on the lead times above. This is especially relevant in the Aussie diner scene: nearly three in four Australian diners (74%) prefer to connect with restaurants by email, according to our 2025 AU Restaurant Trends Report).
Sending the same message to your whole list makes it less relevant to each guest. Last year's Christmas party organiser and the family who booked Easter lunch need different invitations, so segment guests based on what they've booked before. Use social media to announce the date, then use email and text to drive bookings.
Marketing automation can trigger messages based on guest behaviour, such as a thank-you after a first visit or a birthday offer. Targeted, automated emails drive 12x more revenue per email than mass sends, according to the same report. Set your triggers before the season starts so they're ready to run.
Beverly Rooftop in Melbourne sent a Melbourne Cup email campaign through SevenRooms that generated 353 covers and $36,063 in revenue.
3. Protect the booking before the date arrives
On popular holidays such as Mother's Day, Melbourne Cup and New Year's Eve, a no-show can leave a table empty that you could have sold to another guest. Deposits, card details and a clear cancellation policy help protect those bookings.
Be aware of the fact that some guests will push back on this: 24% of Australian diners say being asked for card details would deter them from booking. Strive for balance and don't require them for every booking. Instead, use deposits or card details for high-demand dates and large groups, explain the policy clearly in the confirmation and leave random weekday bookings alone.
4. Follow up with a reason to return
Every date on this list can bring in guests you haven't met before. Tag each one of them with the occasion and year at booking, such as “Melbourne Cup 2026,”. That’s how every promotion can leave you with a list of guests to invite back.
It’s not only beneficial for you, as guests are also eager to be asked. 81% of Australian diners say an invitation to return after a first holiday visit would encourage them to come back, according to our Holiday Revenue Guide.
Set up an automated thank-you for the week after the visit, addressed by name and written like a holiday card, with a reason to return on a slower night. Save the special offers for this follow-up rather than the original promotion. For guests who don't rebook, send each group a seasonal campaign through email marketing and a short, time-sensitive reminder through text marketing.
Run all four steps from one guest profile with SevenRooms
Each step depends on guest data carrying from the booking to the next message. A restaurant CRM keeps that information together, with one profile for each guest built from their bookings, visits and tags.
The SevenRooms CRM builds the profile and stores the date tags from each holiday booking. Marketing automation sends the thank-you and triggered follow-ups, while email marketing and text marketing reach each tagged segment with targeted campaigns. A guest who booked a holiday event can receive an invitation for a slower night later in the year, without anyone building a list by hand.
Plan your festive season with the 2026 Australian Holiday Revenue Guide
A holiday promotion can fill the room once, but keeping those guests depends on what surrounds it: how easily they can book, what they can add to the occasion and how you follow up afterwards.
Our 2026 Australian Holiday Revenue Guide draws on a survey of 2,009 Australian diners and 500 operators to show what drives holiday bookings, what guests will pay more for and how to bring first-time festive diners back in the new year.
Restaurant holiday promotions FAQs
When should Australian restaurants start promoting Christmas bookings?
Early October, as work Christmas parties are often decided that month. Send the party package early and have the holiday menu ready before the month ends. Many groups have already booked beforehand when the festive season starts in December.
What is the most profitable holiday for restaurants in Australia?
There's no single winner. Mother's Day is one of the biggest booked lunch days, while Melbourne Cup and work Christmas parties can drive significant group spend. New Year's Eve is particularly well suited to prepaid tickets.
Do holiday discounts work for restaurants?
Not usually on their own. Loyalty rewards, perks and holiday promotions influence the choice of restaurant for just 11% of Australian diners booking for the holidays. Holiday specials consisting of a coupon, a free dessert or a free meal may fill a table once, but prepaid sittings, set menus and paid upgrades can increase revenue without lowering your prices.
How do you stop no-shows on big holiday bookings?
Take deposits or card details and set a clear cancellation window for high-demand dates and large groups. Since the average Australian cancellation fee is $79, as our 2025 Australia Industry Trends Report shows, while 24% of diners say being asked for card details would deter them from booking, you should reserve these requirements for bookings where a cancellation would have the biggest impact.
Which holidays should an Australian restaurant plan for?
Start with the 16 dates above, which span summer public holidays and major sporting events, Christmas in July and Melbourne Cup. Pick the ones that suit your venue and plan each on its own lead time.
