Quest Apartments and Hotels Ipswich owner Adam French says latest lockdown will hit hospitality hard

An Ipswich hotel owner says his business has been contacting former clients and asking them to return in an attempt to survive during the pandemic.

Quest Ipswich owner Adam French says life has been tough for the hospitality industry over the past 18 months, and it just got harder with the latest lockdowns.

Ipswich business owners were hopeful of a steady return to something resembling normal before the latest Covid restrictions hit Queensland this week.

The state will go into another snap lockdown as of 6pm Tuesday, with mandatory mask wearing in place amid concerns over the delta variant of the virus entering the state.

The hospitality and accommodation industries have been among the worst hit during the pandemic, with several major events cancelled over the past 18 months.

Quest Apartments and Hotels Ipswich owner Adam French said the fluctuating restrictions had created a high level of uncertainty in hospitality.

“When there’s a snap lockdown it affects our business immediately,” Mr French said.

“People from other states cancel their bookings because they don’t want to be caught outside their state, and it’s not just in Queensland.

“Lockdowns in other states impact our business as a number of our clientele come from out of state.”

Ipswich Chamber of Commerce vice president Stephen Harling said businesses had been forced to adapt and change the way they work in order to stay afloat.

“We’ve had some businesses find ways of making Covid work for them productively,” Mr Harling said.

“We’ve had some sadder stories where businesses have had to close their doors.

“It’s certainly made the businesses still around a bit more resilient.

“They’re looking at other options and looking to adapt their business and new ways of delivering services.”

Mr French said the drop in customers at Quest Ipswich forced them to reach out to former clients in a desperate attempt to stay viable.

“We’ve contacted all of our accounts and the companies that have stayed with us, really just to touch base to see how they were going,” Mr French said.

“We relied on people needing to travel for (essential work), and we reached out to everybody that had been our customers in the last 12 months to stimulate any business we could.”

Mr Harling said the Ipswich Chamber of Commerce had been instrumental in providing support for many of these businesses that have struggled.

“The Chamber provides support not just for our members but other business groups in the region,” Mr Harling said.

“It’s been a long year, and we’re keeping morale high within the community.”

Mr French encouraged Queensland residents to holiday at home and venture out into Ipswich to see what the city has to offer.

“Given what’s going on in the world, letting everyone know how good a place Ipswich is, and how there are so many unknowns in the city that people should go out and see is important,” Mr French said.

“I encourage everyone to come and see Ipswich, we’d love to have people come out for overnight stays.”