‘I’d hate to be a casual right now’

ant as well as SinCity, The Bedroom and Havana RnB nightclubs had been positively impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

“We’ve noticed an increase in people travelling domestically as a consequence of the virus as people who are not able to travel internationally stay local and dine out. White Rhino just had the best weekend it’s ever had,” he said.

“It’s been quite positive for us and in the past couple of weeks have noticed an uptick on year-on-year trade which is great. Both domestic and locals are still coming out because most realise the risk of contracting the virus is pretty low.”

Pat Gennari, who owns Koi and Loose Moose in Broadbeach and Glass Dining and Lounge Bar in Marina Mirage, said all his businesses were “going pretty well, but they always do pretty well”.

“We focus on our locals, we always have. Conferences at the Gold Coast Convention Centre also help, like the big pharmaceutical one on at the moment,” he said.

Dracula’s operations manager Luke Newman said its product offering rarely attracted the Chinese market and didn’t rely on the bus tour groups.

“As such we have been lucky to be largely unaffected by the decline in visitation from these markets,” he said.

Meanwhile, Moncrieff MP Angie Bell held a round table discussion with community members and stakeholders yesterday to discuss how Gold Coasters were being adversely affected by the coronavirus, with a view to coming up with innovative solutions to help local operators.