By Andrew Starke
Up to 100 pubs and hotels are likely to be affected by the flooding in Queensland with at least 15 major venues on the banks of the Brisbane River closed and on high alert.
Queensland Hotels Association (QHA) chief executive Justin O’Connor told TheShout that 12 country hotels had so far been destroyed or inundated with flood water.
With any recovery operation still days away, the QHA is focusing on assisting smaller, rural pubs, many of whom have lost everything.
Condamine publican Shane Hickey believes he is looking at damages of more than $300,000 with pool tables, poker machines, motel rooms and stock destroyed in the floods.
O’Connor was upbeat on the prospects of larger Brisbane hotels like the Breakfast Creek Hotel and Regatta Hotel riding out the disaster although significant flooding in the area seems inevitable.
“Those establishments on the banks of the Brisbane River have at least had time to prepare and hopefully we are only looking at a transient disruption to these operations,” he said.
O’Connor believes that the hospitality industry will be a ‘medium-term’ priority for government who are presently focusing on the immediate emergency at hand – rescuing stranded people and evacuating communities ahead of the flood’s expected peak on Thursday.
“In some respects it is lucky that this has happened over what is traditionally a quiet time for the pub sector,” he said.
“The rain over the past month has ensured good trading over the holidays and morale is high.”