Big bite on spending swallows up hospitality businesses

Rising costs and consumers cutting spending is a recipe for disaster for the hospitality sector. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

Nearly one in 10 hospitality and food services businesses closed in the past year, as cost pressures force Australians to rein in spending.

A record-high 9.4 per cent of food service and hospitality businesses shut their doors in the year to March, as economy-wide insolvencies surged 17 per cent year-on-year, according to CreditorWatch data.