Pub crawl ban: Should there be no more in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast?
Debate continues to rage over pub crawls in Surfers Paradise and whether they should be a thing of the past. VOTE NOW >>>
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DEBATE continues to rage over pub crawls in Surfers Paradise and whether they should be a thing of the past.
Here is what you said on Facebook.
Cassie Dantico
If you ban pub crawls it can seriously harm tourism in surfers
Dan Wadds
That’s one way to make surfers paradise even more of a ghost town.
Didn’t they allow Dwarf throwing in the 80s on the Gold Coast.
Yet having a pub crawl is worse for the image then the above activity was.
Dawn Parker
Don’t blame the pubs. Pub crawls have been around for many, many years...It’s some of the mongrels who do the crawling. So no.
Steve Carter
Ban pub crawls but allow destructive over-development? Yeah, priorities…
Leisa Burton
How about u actually clean up surfers it is a dirty place with homeless people everywhere and rubbish,what an eyesore. Disgusting place,not for families that’s for sure
Adrian Bernard
Banning a community that supports the local business is not ok. Existing laws are in place to manage this like existing Liquor licensing. So basically you cant market venues anymore.
Jordan Faraj
How about we get rid of the homeless people that are all over the street
Caleb Spicer
Goodluck banning pub crawls anywhere let alone pub/club crawls in Surfers
Sinisa Vucic
You need to tackle the real issues it’s not the pub crawl!!!….. it’s the homelessness
Patricia O’Brien
Just get rid of surfers paradise it a horrible place
Pub crawl boss vows to operate again despite Surfers ‘ban’ - July 7, 2021
THE defiant boss of a Surfers Paradise pub crawl vows it is not in breach of any bylaws and plans to relaunch soon despite moves to ban them.
The Surfers Paradise Licensed Venues Association (SPLVA), made up of licensees, last week voted to ban crawls, with the city council planning to ping touts spruiking them with $670 on-the spot-fines in to “clean up” the precinct, The Bulletin revealed on Tuesday.
But Wicked Club Crawl spokesman Matt Sutherland on Tuesday responded by saying his operation was only temporarily not running and would relaunch in a few days.
In a statement to The Bulletin, Mr Sutherland said his Wicked Club Crawl operated Wicked Nightlife Tours from 6.30pm to 9.30pm and would continue to do so.
“The recent lockdown necessitated the closure of Wicked Club Crawl and Wicked Nightlife Tours, however, we will be operating again when venue capacity numbers allow in the coming days,” he said.
“The company and each venue check levels of intoxication of participants upon entry. They abide by Queensland liquor licensing laws. The company provides a safe, fun environment for people to visit multiple venues.”
“The (city council) has had fines in place for the sale of products on council land for decades. This is regulated by local laws,” Mr Sutherland said, adding that Wicked Club Crawl did not sell tickets on Council land or property.
“The SPLVA is an association that has no commercial jurisdiction within the Surfers Paradise area and has no authority to regulate the manner in which operators in the Surfers Paradise area conduct their business,” he claimed.
“If the SPLVA wishes to remove members, that is a matter for them, however, they are required to abide by the relevant legislation and their articles of association.”
His defiant response comes after Artesian Hospitality partner Matt Keegan, whose stable includes bar-restaurants plus nightclubs in Surfers Paradise, said the visitor hub was moving away from cheaper young crowd towards an older demographic with a more sophisticated offering.
Area councillor Darren Taylor said pub crawls “were not part of the future of Surfers Paradise” and insisted rebels would be targeted.
“We can only crack down on touting and we will be.
“Council and the business community and everyone in Surfers are all on the same page about pub crawls – they are not part of the future going forward.
“If we have companies which think differently, we will do everything in our power to make sure Surfers continues to improve and if that means no pub crawls then we will all do our job to make this place clean and safe.”
It comes as 77 per cent of Bulletin readers in an online poll voted “yes” when asked “Would you like to see pub crawls axed from Surfers?
JULY 6: Make Surfers great again – Step one: axing pub crawls
SURFERS Paradise bar operators have joined forces with the city council to ban “detrimental” pub crawls from the tourism hub as it moves to clean up its reputation.
The Surfers Paradise Licenced Venues Association, made up of licencees in the suburb, last week voted to ban pub crawls which have plagued the precinct for years. The vote came at the same time the area councillor Darren Taylor has vowed any pub crawl operators touting in Surfers will face $670 fines.
Artesian Hospitality partner Matt Keegan, whose stable includes Sin City and The Bedroom nightclubs, said he was “surprised it took so many years” for a move to ban them.
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“We echo general community views that while pub crawls are part of Surfers Paradise’s history, they are not part of its future,” he said.
“Surfers is moving away from that cheaper young crowd towards an older demographic and that includes a more sophisticated offering as well as modern entertainment options.”
Three groups – named Wicked Club Crawl, Down Under Party Tours and The Hangover Crawl – have all operated on the Glitter Strip, with staff recruiting partygoers via street booths.
Cr Taylor said pub crawl “touting” in Surfers would risk a $670 on-the-spot fine.
“When you have drunk people running around, trotting in and out of venues, it can be quite detrimental to the city’s reputation,” Cr Taylor said. “Many businesses have outdoor dining, and having these large numbers of intoxicated people, hanging out front, but leaving pretty quickly, it looks bad.”
The ban was just the start of a push to return Surfers to its former glory.
“We’re looking at the bigger picture, we still want to have that night-time economy but we’re seeing that many young people chose to visit venues like Burleigh Pavilion instead.”
Mr Keegan, who recently launched upmarket waterfront venue Surfers Pavilion said: As bad as Covid was, it was also a fantastic period for people to re-evaluate their businesses and reinvent their image and business model.”
Despite the crawls bringing thousands into nightclubs a year, Keegan refuted a suggestion the ban would come at a significant loss to the group.
“We’re not worried about losing business, we’ve been operating without pub crawls for over a year. It’s had a positive impact,” Mr Keegan said.
“There were a lot of negative impacts, in the way they would market to crowds, they would promote free entry and free drinks which were at the expense of the venues.
“If people had a negative experience on the crawl they tend to associate that with the venue.”
Hollywood Showgirls owner Craig Duffy said crawls “were a bad look”, promoting binge drinking and anti-social behaviour.
“They were effectively selling tickets to free alcohol without a liquor licence, I’m surprised it’s taken so many years to ban them,” he said.
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