{"id":441369,"date":"2026-01-29T18:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/441369\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T18:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:31:09","slug":"growing-use-of-weight-loss-drugs-could-have-consequences-for-tourism-hospitality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/441369\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing use of weight-loss drugs could have consequences for tourism, hospitality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are beginning to reshape global eating and drinking habits, with knock-on effects for tourism and hospitality industries, including in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>In key markets like the United States and the United Kingdom, millions of people using GLP-1 drugs are eating out less often, drinking less alcohol and consuming smaller portions, prompting restaurants to rethink menus and pricing.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel Irvine, CEO and founder at Irvine Partners, has been looking into this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessday.co.za\/opinion\/2026-01-19-rachel-irvine-hospitality-sector-should-brace-for-the-ozempic-effect\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">growing trend<\/a>. She says the shift is not a fad but a long-term behavioural change.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it was the supermodel Kate Moss who very famously in the early 90s said, &#8216;Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels&#8217;. Certainly, the wave of Mounjaro, Wegovy, and Ozempic use that we&#8217;ve seen in the UK and in the United States of America would certainly seem to echo that sentiment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is an estimate that 7% of UK adults today are taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, which has led to one in three eating out less often, and nearly a quarter, roughly about 23%, are drinking less alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the United States, a Bloomberg Intelligence report found that 54% are dining out less frequently and have cut back on takeaways. The numbers are mind-boggling.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hospitality here in the UK has certainly had to adapt and pivot and start offering what they like to call GLP-1 menus, and the South African hospitality industry is going to have to do something similar.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no sector that can afford to be stubborn. This is coming. It&#8217;s already here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She notes that rather than focusing on volume and indulgence, restaurants may need to offer smaller, higher-quality meals, innovative low-alcohol options and experiences that justify pricing, as global consumer habits continue to evolve.<\/p>\n<p>To listen to Irvine in conversation with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.primediaplus.com\/capetalk\/good-morning-cape-town-with-lester-kiewit\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CapeTalk&#8217;s Lester Kiewit<\/a>, use the audio player below:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are beginning to reshape global eating and drinking habits, with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[49,48,91399,91400,91403,91402,91401,84,701,377,44,19536,91406,91405,91404],"class_list":["post-441369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ewn","tag-ewn-news","tag-ewn-south-africa","tag-eye-witness-news","tag-eyewitness-news","tag-health","tag-latest-news","tag-medication","tag-news","tag-news-today","tag-prime-media-plus","tag-primedia-plus","tag-primedia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}