Great Western Hotel closing due to COVID-19
Posted on June 17th, 2020
Due to COVID-19 the Great Western Hotel will not be reopening.
The Great Western Hotel is an iconic local tourist destination which is heavily dependent on overseas and interstate visitors.
The social distancing restrictions, border closures and travel restrictions have had a major impact on the Hotel.
The Great Western is also reliant on major rodeos and music events both of which it is uncertain when they can resume.
The inclusion of the Great Western Hotel in the Safe Night Precinct has also had a negative impact.
We would personally like to thank our General Manager, Denis Cox, who has done an outstanding job over the past 18 months and to all our hard working staff – we consider you all family. .
We would also like to thank our stakeholders – the competitors, sponsors and suppliers whom made a visit to the Great Western Hotel such a memorable experience.
We apologise to our locals.
The Great Western Hotel was established in 1862 and we are sure will continue for many years to come.
We welcome expressions of interest to purchase or lease the Great Western Hotel. Colin Bowden can be contacted on 0408872003 or colin.bowden@bigpond.com
Colin & Vickie Bowden, Owners, Great Western Hotel
In response to the unfortunate announcement made by the iconic Great Western Hotel, Capricorn Enterprise CEO, Mary Carroll said, “The Great Western Hotel (GWH) is an iconic local hotel which has been a key component of the Beef Capital for decades, featured in numerous tourism publications, travel shows, blogs and live crosses from popular breakfast shows and a ‘must see’ for interstate and international visitors.”
“Not only a signature local famous for a good steak, cold beer and live entertainment, it is the only pub in the country that has successfully operated a live rodeo, together with being a curriculum aligned training ground which sees students from St Brendan’s College in Yeppoon break the barriers and master a bull for eight seconds.”
“We are truly saddened to see the doors close on this iconic tourism operator, which is our region’s first COVID casualty and a big one at that.”
“As we have said for many months now, cash is king in business, and despite the financial support packages forthcoming from State and Federal Government, without a steady flow of funds coming through the doors, it is not viable for businesses such as GWH to operate with reduced capacity which limits their ability to turn a profit.”
“We feel incredibly empathetic for owners Colin and Vicki Bowden, along with manager Denis Cox who have needed to make this difficult business decision based on their current position.”
“Hopefully, we will see the historic landmark purchased, leased and operational in the not too distant future.”
