VILLE TO BOOST EVENT PARKING
TOWNSVILLE’S The Ville is set to introduce more parking as the resort-casino looks to get even more people through the doors during busy periods.
CEO Michael Jones said parking spots were taken quickly when The Ville or Townsville’s Entertainment Centre hosted big events.
“We already have some plans around how to fix that … an announcement will be made in the coming months,” Mr Jones said. “We don’t want to upset people … we want more parks available for our members,” he said.
The waterfront casino also hopes to chase greater revenue this year with the renovation of its VIP gaming room.
“We spent $1 million refurbishing an existing room, making it larger, more high end and exclusive.”
While the renovations are primarily for The Ville’s local and regional guests, Mr Jones said the group was always supportive of more tourism.
“We will definitely welcome anything that increases flight capacity into Townsville … international or domestic, we don’t mind. It’s not only good for us, it’s good for all of Townsville,” he said.
The renovations will begin at the end of the month and should be completed in April or May. Boasting 100 per cent occupancy rates over weekend periods and an average occupancy of 80 per cent for the last four months, Mr Jones said he hoped the resort started to attract even more people on weekdays.
“The Pavilion is full every weekend, with weddings and dinners and concerts … but there is opportunity to fill it more Monday to Thursday,” Mr Jones said.
“We want to bring business outside of Townsville into Townsville, business events … to use the facility,” he said.
The last of the company’s $44 million renovation concluded last July, with the opening of Palm House, a breakfast and dinner buffet.
“Whenever you open a new outlet, it takes a few months to settle down, to get pricing and the offering right,” Mr Jones said. “The offering we have now … we are at the level we hoped to be … the quality of food is a lot higher than what we were offering in the past.
“We have had 12 months of Quarterdeck, 18 months of Miss Songs, and it’s all starting to come together nicely.”
Mr Jones said the group had been spot on with their budgeting for the 2018-19 financial year and that they were where they wanted to be in terms of revenue and profitability.
“Judging by the number of people we are getting through the door, it shows Townsville was crying out for a venue like this,” he said.