It appears that the ban on smoking in pubs is creating a renaissance for the Australian beer garden in clubs and pubs across the State, who are spending up to half-a-billion dollars on renovations ahead of the indoor smoking ban in July, 2007.
Clubs throughout New South Wales is leading the beer barn building boom, with its members spending $422 million on outdoor entertaining areas and many hotels also undergoing major renovation work, constructing outdoor balconies, terraces and beer gardens.
Retailers of outdoor furniture, sunshades and gas heaters have also reported a huge increase in business.
In Sydney, the City Council has approved, or is assessing, at least eighteen development applications from major hotels in the CBD and inner suburbs, with hotel and club operators seeking to offset potential losses in revenue when they will have to close the last quarter of floor space currently allowed for smokers.
City hotels with renovation work under way or planned include The Clock Hotel, Surry Hills; Excelsior Hotel, Glebe; O’Donoghue’s, CBD; Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst; Darlo Bar, Darlinghurst; Aurora Hotel, Surry Hills, and the Newtown Hotel.
ClubsNSW believes the smoking ban is a blessing in disguise, attracting families
to licensed venues.
Report by The Mole
