By Triana O'Keefe, editor Australian Hotelier
Pubs and hotels are invited to become part of the Aussie Pub Crawl with Chris Franklin (pictured) and Kieran Wicks as part of the Shout a Mate initiative.
Last year saw the Shout a Mate team travel over 15,000km to 30 communities around the country suffering from the drought, bringing them much needed mental and social respite.
The project has been running since 2011 and this year the event has 57 dates set aside for the Aussie Pub Crawl around the country.
“We are about helping the pubs build their profile; business operators who want to get brand exposure can shout a drought affected community a show in the local pub,” said founder Anita Donlon.
“8.4 million people left our shores to go overseas on holiday in the 12/13 financial year. Our aim is to raise the profile of Aussie pubs to visit and experience the hospitality that they provide in town and country.”
Gabrielle Kent of the Victoria Hotel, Pyramid Hill said: “Being part of the Shout a Mate tours has been a great asset to our business. Bringing quality musicians out to the country had always proved a huge challenge in the past, and live comedy was something we’d never dreamed of, let alone the likes of Chris Franklin and Bruno Lucia.
“The locals have loved the quality of the artists that Shout a Mate has brought to town and it was a fantastic change to see our dining room transformed into a theatre style performance area, seats filled with all kinds of locals from farmers and truckies to members of council. Roars of laughter and applause ring out from the room with every patron emerging with a smile, which is exactly what we’d hoped for and the very purpose of Shout a Mate.”