By Andy Young
After being open for three years XXXX Island will be calling last orders at the end of this year and will again operate as Pumpkin Island from January 2016.
The island was launched by XXXX in 2012 and was designed "to encourage Aussie mates to get together for some genuine ‘mates time’".
Since its launch more than 3000 people have visited the island and research undertaken by Lion shows that one in two Aussie beer drinkers are now aware of XXXX Island.
Matt Tapper, Lion's national marketing director, said: “The response we’ve had to XXXX Island has been truly overwhelming, so much so that we have already extended the original lease by six months so more people could enjoy the experience. We plan on celebrating the next six months in true XXXX style and still have a huge amount of trips to give away in the coming months.
“We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved with XXXX Island and have been hard at work planning what’s next for the brand. We have some huge news coming from XXXX GOLD in the coming weeks which we can’t wait to share with our drinkers around the country."
XXXX Island has also generated jobs within the local economy and extraordinary awareness about the Capricorn Coast as a tourist destination. In 2013, XXXX helped raise funds to support Queenslanders after the devastation of the Queensland floods, auctioning the whole island off for one weekend to the highest bidder to raise funds for relief efforts.
There are still 10 GOLDen tickets available which will allow the winner and three mates to visit the island and the last visitors will officially disembark on 20 November.
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