Support Local Restaurants

When the airline dispute occurred in the early nineties, we saw the first downturn in our then emerging tourism industry. It was devastating for the hospitality industry and small owner operator restaurants suffered the most.

Working in a major hotel at the time, enduring an occupancy an all time low and empty restaurants, we were about to make a decision to shed a sizable portion of our staff as other hotels in the region had done. These were our loyal employees with families and commitments, and who we had spent time and effort on training and development of their skills and esprit de corp.

It was a decision we didn’t want to make. So we decided to ‘go for broke’ and declared an entire hotel 50% sale for a week. It was so popular we were able to extend it for three week; and these three weeks of a busy hotel got us over the hump. There was no profit but we saved our staff. It showed that people in town were still willing to spend; albeit for a bargain price.

What I am saying here is that the hospitality industry is currently in another of these slumps and needs your support. At present there is an abundance of bargains available for diners of the restaurants in Port Douglas, the Beaches and Cairns. The restaurants are certainly not making any money from these low price super specials but hoping to lure customers and to keep their good staff. If they can just get some turnover for the next three months, there is light at the end of the tunnel when the high season kicks in.

We have a good restaurant industry in the region and especially for those who support local food, they deserve your support. So Bon Appétit!