Hotels, pubs full ahead of big carnival weekend
TOOWOOMBA’S pubs and hotels are set for another business boom in the coming days, ahead of the second big weekend for the Carnival of Flowers.
Organisers’ decision to split major events like the Festival of Food and Wine and the Grand Central Floral Parade appears to have paid off, with accommodation providers reporting no vacancies over Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
Oaks Toowoomba manager Jake Murray said his CBD venue was fully booked for the second-straight weekend, with his team actually referring potential customers onto other venues.
He said the wider distribution of carnival events over September had paid dividends for local businesses.
“A lot of it has been seven days out that we’ve been filling, so essentially when this past weekend went, we started filling up,” Mr Murray said.
“We’re full again for the parade and we’ve got a couple of tour groups, while the rest of the hotel we’ve filled up in the past of days.
“We’ve obviously been bumping extra people to other hotels, so I would imagine all accommodation providers are full up.”
Oaks Toowoomba owner Kenneth Wagner said his bar the Rock was also virtually fully booked.
“The spread of the carnival over multiple weeks has been a real success,” he said.
“Both our accommodation bookings and food and beverage business are going better than they ever have I think.
“You can’t get a table in a pub, so it’s going great.
“By splitting the different aspects over a four-week period, it means people can come for different things.”
But Mr Wagner urged organisers to not get complacent, arguing the new model showed Toowoomba needed more major events to attract year-round tourists.
“September is a great month, but we need carnivallike events happening every month of the year,” he said.
“Carnival is the right offering, but who’s to say we shouldn’t be doing something else next month.”
Environment and community chair Councillor James O’Shea said the fourweekend offering of carnival was delivering results.
“The carnival team has had fantastic feedback from local businesses right across the city with cafes and restaurants full,” he said.
“The extension of carnival to a 30-day event from the long-held 10 day event is definitely working.”