The Chronicle

Hotels, pubs full ahead of big carnival weekend

- TOM GILLESPIE

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.”

 ?? Picture: Kevin Farmer ?? FULLY BOOKED: Oaks Toowoomba owner Kenneth Wagner says the decision to split major Carnival of Flowers events over two weeks has been a success.
Picture: Kevin Farmer FULLY BOOKED: Oaks Toowoomba owner Kenneth Wagner says the decision to split major Carnival of Flowers events over two weeks has been a success.

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