As Covid lockdowns and restrictions ease around Australia, the local pub could soon be a haven for Australia’s remote, hybrid and flexible workforce, thanks to a new online marketplace called Third Place.
Tired of being stuck at home, workers have begun heading to cafes, co-working spaces and even pubs the world over to avoid the pitfalls of #WFH: distraction, monotony, loneliness, and work-life balance.
The promoter of #WFHospo is Third Place, an online marketplace (www.third-place.org) created by an Australian tech startup of the same name that helps remote, hybrid and flexible workforces to find and book inspiring hospitality workspaces.
Third Place, so-named because it offers a balance between working from home (the ‘first place’) and working from the office (the ‘second place’), is rolling out in collaboration with AHA Victoria and Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) Victoria.
Third Place enables people to book a space in which to work alone or with colleagues and clients from a pub, lobby or café, for a morning, an afternoon or for two hours – whatever suits them, according to Third Place founder and chief marketing & growth officer Paul Veltman, and the benefit works both ways.
“From a pub’s perspective, they can attract a new stream of food and beverage revenue into the venue during off-peak periods when they don’t get much foot traffic,” he says.
So far, around 2,000 Australian venues have signed up, including ALH Group, Hyatt, IHG, Accor, The Sebel, Rydges, Crowne Plaza, and The Ascott, and since launching in the UK earlier this month, Veltman says Third Place has already listed over 30 new venues and welcomed a number of top pubs from Fuller’s, which has over 360 venues, and Youngs which has over 200 venues.
Importantly, Third Place is also onboarding some weighty corporate partners which it hopes will sign up to use the marketplace as an inexpensive way to support remote, hybrid and flexible workers by giving them a way to book inspiring workspaces, and by providing a monthly allowance to spend on food and beverage while working there.
Want to keep reading? Read the rest of the article below in the September issue of Australian Hotelier.