Sign up for #RestaurantWeek

From today, we’re inviting restaurants across the UK & Ireland to sign up for #RestaurantWeek — an exciting new initiative happening on Twitter this June.

The week-long celebration of the industry will take place from 2-8 June 2014, and is open to all restaurants across the UK & Ireland.

The week has been created to shine a light on the diversity of the UK & Ireland’s restaurant industry, helping restaurant owners to connect with their local communities, showcase their menus, profile their staff and bring new customers through the door.

#RestaurantWeek is being supported by the British Hospitality Association (@BHAtweets), OpenTable (@OpenTableUK) and the Restaurants Association of Ireland (@RAI_ie).

According to the British Hospitality Association, more than 8 billion meals are sold in the UK every year, with over 20 million meals eaten out every day, making it a huge part of our daily lives.

Daily hashtags

Restaurants will be able to take part in #RestaurantWeek by tweeting with a different hashtag each day, giving customers a peek behind the kitchen doors and into the day-to-day running of a restaurant.

Each day’s hashtag will cover a different aspect of the restaurant industry — and participating businesses can join in with as few or as many as they like.

Free webinar

There will also be a free educational webinar for restaurant owners, managers and marketers, taking place on two dates in May.

The webinar will focus on how restaurants can use Twitter effectively for their business, through a series of best practices and examples from the industry. It will be focused on the restaurant industry and will cover topics such as customer service, offers and deals, converting followers to customers, and tips on how get more followers.

Restaurants can sign up to receive more information about #RestaurantWeek and the webinar programme.

From independent eateries to the biggest chains, any restaurant in the UK or Ireland can join #RestaurantWeek

Supporters

Mike Xenakis, Managing Director of OpenTable International:

“We’re thrilled to support #RestaurantWeek and help restaurants transfer those online conversations into great dining experiences.”

Ufi Ibrahim (@UfiIbrahim), Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association:

“Culturally, eating out is now part of everyday life — 20 million of us eating at least one meal out of the home every single day. This provides the industry with the most amazing potential to engage customers more deeply via social media.

“That’s why we are so pleased to be working with Twitter to support our members in tapping into this potential via #RestaurantWeek. We are confident that the webinars will offer our members a fantastic and highly beneficial tool for communicating directly with their customers and bringing their restaurants to life online.”

Adrian Cummins (@adriancummins), CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland:

“The Restaurants Association of Ireland are delighted to be involved in #RestaurantWeek. Online promotion plays a pivotal role in a restaurants marketing strategy and Twitter allows restaurants to show consumers a side to their restaurant they do not usually see.

“Real-time images and Vine videos through Twitter give consumers real-time access to restaurants, their kitchens and their menus. We’re excited to be part of #RestaurantWeek, working alongside Twitter and restaurants across the country.”