600k visitors flock to Sky Deck as The Star struggles to stay afloat

Visitors are still flocking to the Queen’s Wharf Sky Deck in Brisbane, despite fears the gaming giant behind the facility is weeks away from collapse.

While the Star Entertainment Group is in a struggle to avoid imminent closure, visitors are flocking to its Sky Deck, with new figures showing more than 600,000 people have taken a lift to the 23rd floor to savour the views.

The new Kangaroo Point bridge meanwhile passed the 315,000 visitation mark over the weekend despite persistent rain and school holidays since its opening on December 14.

It is expected to remove up to 84,000 cars from Brisbane’s roads annually, reduce commuting times between Kangaroo Point and the CBD by 15 minutes, and halve walking times between Kangaroo Point, the Gabba and the city centre.

The Neville Bonner bridge, which connects South Bank to level two of Star’s casino building, has been even more popular with an average of more than 10,000 crossings per day.

Star said that since the Sky Deck opened on August 29, up until December 24, there had been a total of 622,616 visitations.

There were queues at the three lifts on most days, with large crowds at the three rooftop bars.

But teething problems with poorly trained staff were still evident on the weekend, including complaints about cocktails and long waits for coffees.

Glare and heat from the afternoon sun was also a problem at the main viewing area, as well as problems with the lifts which had contributed to queues.

The movement counter on Kangaroo Point bridge showing total visitations ticking past 100,000 for the period of January 1-12.

The Star’s hotel came under fire soon after opening, with one online reviewer calling it the “worst in Australia’’ and mediocre ratings on Google Reviews, TripAdvisor and Booking.com.

There have also been complaints about the Kangaroo Point bridge’s poor connection to the nearby Story Bridge, with cyclists and pedestrians forced to cross at an un-signalised pedestrian crossing.

The extra traffic generated on the Story Bridge has added to conflicts between cyclists, e-scooter riders and pedestrians, who must share the footpath unlike at the Go Between bridge which has separated pathways on each side.

Originally published as 600k visitors flock to Sky Deck as The Star struggles to stay afloat