Eyes on the prize: the benefits of winning bar awards
Having a full trophy cabinet can be a real confidence builder, but what are the tangible benefits of winning an award for a bar? We speak to award winners and organisations about how being recognised on the global stage can boost more than just ego.
Being told you’re good at your job can be one of the most rewarding and morale-boosting things anyone can hear. To be acknowledged for hard work, recognised for innovation, or validated for taking a risk offers a sense of value or importance on both an individual and group scale. But when it comes to running a business, especially one in hospitality, the benefits reach a whole new level.
The world of hospitality awards is big and long-established. While some are relevant just to members of the trade, others are followed by consumers the world over, and often define which venues are to be ‘the next big thing’. The Michelin Guide, which awards stars for excellence in the world of restaurants, has been published by the eponymous French tyre company since 1900, and has a following of hardcore foodies who live and dine by the words and recommendations of the anonymous judges. The AA Hospitality Awards have a similar effect on the hotel industry, having inspected and rated hotels for more than a century in a bid to highlight the best establishments in the industry.
But while restaurants and hotels have long had the opportunity to boost their credibility with awards, it is only in the past few decades that the bar world has been recognised via this style of salute. For those of us in the trade, these awards are well-known, with the likes of The World’s 50 Best Bars, Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s Spirited Awards, The Pinnacle Guide and, more recently, The Spirits Business Awards all recognising the best the on-trade has to offer. But to what extent are these awards known by the consumers that the bars are trying to attract, and do they even care?
“A lot of the coverage [of The World’s 50 Best Bars list] isn’t just in trade media, it’s across the board in consumer media as well,” explains Emma Sleight, head of content for The World’s 50 Best Bars. “Anecdotally, if you look at the comments on our social media sections when we announce lists or announce the videos – yes, it’s full of bartenders, but it’s also full of people who are sharing their opinions and actually often having debates. This is the wonderful thing of having an opinion-based list, because it is going to be completely subjective.”
Sleight explains that consumer interest in rankings and awards is driven by a desire to ensure their money and time are being spent in the best venues. “I think there’s a growing interest from consumers in really getting to grips and understanding where they’re drinking, why they should be drinking, and what the ethos of a bar is. I think increasingly people are being very switched on about where they choose to spend their money and their time.”
Siobhan Payne and Hannah Sharman-Cox, co-founders of The Pinnacle Guide, have found that while their three-tiered rating system for bars is still in its relative infancy, many consumers from outside of the drinks trade are passionate about using it to find the best bars in the world.
Win silverware, get more gold
This consumer awareness naturally has a direct impact on revenue for bars. Venues highlighted by The World’s 50 Best Bars or Spirited Awards often report a 15%-30% increase in sales in the months following the award, according to Tales of the Cocktail Foundation.
Sleight shares that the day after Barcelona bar Paradiso was named the best bar in the world, the venue saw lines five times longer than usual. It subsequently had to open earlier to accommodate the additional guests. Similarly, Simone Caporale’s bar Sips, which won the title in 2023, experienced queues around the block immediately after being listed, while The Cambridge Public House in Paris reported a 25%-30% immediate uptick in business after entering the list in 2023.
For The Spirits Business Awards’ Bar of the Year 2024, Kiki Lounge, which is situated on the Isle of Man, winning competitions and placing in lists has accelerated visits substantially. “The Spirits Business Award was actually the one that cut through with locals the most,” says co-founder Jamie Lewis. “That weekend was pre-Christmas, and we were three times up on projections for that weekend after it went out to the local press.”
In addition, he says, “we’ve had tons of business people visiting the island who mention The Pinnacle Guide, especially after a feature in The Sunday Times Style magazine. Pinnacle really seems to have cut through to that group of guests,” he says, suggesting that it may be down to the guide having been dubbed ‘Michelin stars for bars’.
The positive impact of receiving recognition such as this goes beyond just getting bums on barstools. Google Trends data shows a 200%-500% increase in searches for a bar’s name after a major award is announced, and award-winning bars can experience a 50%-300% increase in social media followers in the three months after winning. According to PR Week and Diageo Reserve World Class analytics, bars winning major awards often receive more than US$100,000 worth of earned media coverage globally through press, blogs, and influencer content.
“The amount of PR you get out of these awards is really, really good, even for a property as remote as ours,” says Michele Mariotti, head of bars at Gleneagles in Scotland. The resort’s ‘crown jewel’ venue, The American Bar, boasts two Pins in The Pinnacle Guide, and was awarded the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award at The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023 for its Book of Berries menu.
Becoming a destination
Bars included in high-profile rankings become destination venues – especially for international visitors – which subsequently boosts tourism-based revenue. When Atlas and Manhattan received global recognition, it was reported that Singapore saw a measurable increase in cocktail tourism.
This level of prestige often awards bars an element of price elasticity, too, with award winners typically able to raise their prices by 5%-10% without losing clientele, as the perceived value of the experience increases.
Mariotti explains that from a guest perspective, being a regular at a bar that has just been recognised for excellence typically encourages them to visit the venue more. “It gives them validation of their choices. They think, ‘oh, this is a great bar. I knew I was right!’ And so, it encourages them to interact with the property even more.”
He notes there are positive effects on the bar’s team, too. “I think the effect is twofold. First of all, there’s an effect on the guest, and then there’s an effect on the team. The two things are compounding. Whenever we achieve an award like that, like the two Pins, for instance, there is immense pride for the team, and it gets them even more engaged with the product, which then automatically allows them to deliver a better service for guests.”
Research by recruitment website Indeed has found that award-winning bars receive more qualified job applicants, with some venues reporting a 50% increase in CV submissions post-award. However, that’s if there are any jobs going, as employee retention typically strengthens as staff take pride in working for a recognised establishment.
Payne explains: “The anecdotal feedback [from bars that have won Pins] has been that it’s a recognition system that means so much to them because they know it is only based on how good they are.”
Winning formula
Of course, such an attractive proposition raises the question: how can a bar get itself recognised in these lists or by an awarding body? It’s a question that can be filed away with ‘what are this weekend’s winning lottery numbers?’ and ‘who will win the Grand National next year?’ There is absolutely no way of guaranteeing a win; however, going above and beyond to be the best venue you can be is one tactic that will likely pay off, say Sharman-Cox and Payne.
To be awarded a Pin in The Pinnacle Guide, the first step is applying to be judged, Payne explains. “The Pinnacle Guide is a recognition system that is essentially completely within [a bar’s] control, because you get recognised if you’re really good. You just need to make your bar brilliant – it has to have a great atmosphere, great hospitality and great drinks. It’s not easy – we never said it was going to be easy – but it is within your control. It is within your control to choose a space that creates a lovely atmosphere, choose lighting that does that, hire staff who are kind and friendly, and be nice to your staff so they are encouraged to be kind and friendly. It’s not about who you know and who you like. It’s nothing to do with who you are as a person.”
However, the pair stress that there is no ‘formula’ for winning a Pin. Every bar could achieve a Pin – in the same way that everyone could get 100% on an exam. “Technically, you could, if you really, really worked hard. But is every bar willing to put their heart and soul into it? Because that’s what it takes. It’s not about ticking boxes at all. Sure, on the application form, you can have all the processes in place, but if when people come in to judge, it doesn’t feel like it’s a place that’s come from love and from the heart, then you will not get one.”
Payne explains that they can tell a lot when they read a bar’s application form, and they can specifically tell if the application hasn’t been written by the venue. “We can tell when a bar has generated their answers with AI, and we can also tell when a PR company has filled it in, versus the owner of the bar.”
Some of the best applications have been submitted by very invested members of a bar team. “One of the best applications we’ve ever got was from a managerial level, because they just knew their venue inside out. None of these questions is difficult if you’re doing the work – there’s nothing trying to trip anybody up. We even suggest things to tell us about in the form. We want people to get it, but if we said: Yeah, there’s a formula – it would suggest you can get AI to do it, you can get your PR to do it. But, really, the formula is just running a really, really fantastic bar.”
Being the best
Payne adds that every question on the application form is relevant to something that is going to improve a bar’s operation, either for the customers, the staff or the environment. “It’s really hard work to look after yourself, and really hard work to consider the environment at every stage of operation. It’s really, really hard work to make sure that every single customer who comes through your door has an amazing time.”
However, The Pinnacle Guide is one of the more unique awarding bodies in the industry. For other awards, such as the Spirited Awards, a venue must be nominated – either by an external party, or by the bar itself – to be considered. The World’s 50 Best Bars list is generated through a voting process by an anonymous academy of more than 800 drinks experts worldwide.
Sleight shares that the voters are bartenders, drinks writers, cocktail specialists, media journalists, and well-travelled drinks experts who are recruited by 29 regional academy chairs. While those chairs are not anonymous, their voters are. Each voter casts eight votes – each with equal weighting – for their best bar experiences over the course of the previous 18 months, and votes are ranked in order of preference and independently adjudicated by professional services firm Deloitte. The final list is a simple computation of these votes.
Unlike with The Pinnacle Guide, there is no strict criteria for ‘best’ in the voting system for The World’s 50 Best Bars. Votes are based on personal, diverse experiences, Sleight says. It is down to the academy chairs to select voters who are believed to be fair, diverse and understanding of what makes a worthy bar. However, when pushed, Sleight says: “There is no tangible advice we can give [to a bar on how to get listed], because the voting academy is completely anonymous. And those academy chairs are required to keep their chosen voters completely anonymous to avoid any potential campaigning, so as a bar, you never really know who is a voter.” As such, she says “we just very much encourage bars and bartenders to keep doing what they do individually, keep doing the very best they can, and to continue offering exceptional service to everybody who walks through the door, which you’d hope they would be doing anyway.”
Meanwhile, according to a blog post on the Tales of the Cocktail website, the Spirited Awards judges mostly look for “a combination of hospitality, drinks innovation, atmosphere and execution of concept. Most of our academy seems to agree it’s the attention to the small details that make an experience memorable and elevate a bar from good to great.”
There are, of course, always going to be concerns over fairness when it comes to voter-decided awards. The drinks industry is a tight-knit one, and there may always be an element of bias when it comes to which bars are considered the best, whether it is conscious or not. As such, Sleight shares that “The 50 Best panels are refreshed by a minimum of 25% each year, so there’s always an influx of fresh voices. We do that specifically to ensure that we’re constantly evolving and keeping it dynamic and relevant, so it’s never a fixed thing for us. Every year, we’re looking at how we can improve and evolve.”
Like the sound of award glory? Today (27 June) is the final day to register your entry to The Spirits Business Awards 2025. Once you have registered, you will have until mid-August to complete your pitch and submit your application. Head to www.awards.thespiritsbusiness.com to enter now.
The awards ceremony will be held at The Underglobe in London on 13 November, presented by English comedian Rob Beckett.
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