QHA_March 2018_Electronic_s

INSIGHTS
RUSTIC VITALITY
QHA REVIEW | 44
A combination of geographic isolation, unsteady
economic times and changing consumer demands
can make life hard for a rural pub. Like many, the
Mena Creek Hotel on the Cassowary Coast has done
it tough. When Nick and Corinne Devine assumed
the managers’ mantle in 2015, the old pub had seen
better days. Despite being located within earshot of
Mena Creek Falls by the popular Paronella Park, the
business had struggled to deliver a decent turnover.
But with “fresh, young eyes”, as Nick puts it, the Mena
Creek Hotel is beginning to thrive again in a new and
very different business landscape.
While the immediate local community is an extremely
important part of the hotel, Nick says they quickly
realised it was no longer viable for the business to rely
solely on that market.
“We needed to broaden the horizons of the pub and
make it a destination in its own right.”
To achieve this, Nick and Corinne identified two
markets in addition to local trade that would be pivotal
to the hotel’s ongoing viability: people from nearby
centres such as Innisfail, Mission Beach, Tully or Cairns
looking for a nice day out; and tourists attracted to the
area by Paronella Park.
“With one of Australia’s most amazing tourist
attractions down the road we saw a huge amount of
foot traffic walking past our doors. A major market that
the hotel wasn’t taking advantage of was day trippers;
those people wanting to go for a leisurely lunch or
delicious family dinner from the larger local population
centres.”
To get them through the door, the first thing the hotel
needed was a freshen-up. So Nick and Corinne
set about buying new furniture, renovating the
seven accommodation rooms and amenities while
undertaking extensive work to the bar and kitchen. But
attention to customer service would prove the game
changer.