VENUES DOING IT SMOKEFREE

There's a groundswell of licensed venues going smokefree all over Australia. They want to be part of the worldwide trend towards smokefree dining and drinking - and enjoy the potential benefits of a healthier trade.

Look at the worldwide evidence that smokefree laws have done no harm to hospitality businesses - sometimes improved trade almost immediately. And think of the proven benefit to the health of your employees (so lower staff turnover, sickness absence, early retirement etc) and patrons! Not to mention lower insurance and cleaning costs, and less likelihood of expensive lawsuits from secondhand smoke harm.

See The Cancer Council NSW's  recommendations for the workplace

Below are just some of the venues doing it smokefree - and loving it!  (If you know any others, please tell us!)

WORLDWIDE

The overwhelming experience worldwide has been that venues going smokefree have done great business. Just one example, from Scotland:

Julie Ivison, who runs The Cross Inn, Paxton, which went smokefree in early 2005: 
We are busier now than we ever were before hand. We have received the total backing of our customers and they all comment how nice it is to enjoy a meal or drink in a nice smoke-free environment. Parents now bring children into the pub to have meals, whereas before they wouldn't because of the smoky atmosphere.    From   Berwickshire Today, 2/3/06

In the USA, owners of smokefree businesses are more and more enthusiastic about the change.  See these 2006 ads

AUSTRALIA

SYDNEY'S METRO HOTEL MAKES FRESH START TO FINANCIAL YEAR
15/5/06:  The 4-star Metro Hotel on Pitt, Sydney, will start the '06/'07 financial year by becoming 100% smoke-free. The move follows increased demand for non-smoking rooms from the 115-room hotel's corporate and government clients.  See Metro media release 15/5/06

SYDNEY SEBEL CLEARS THE WAY
22/3/06: The Sebel Pier One in Sydney has gone 100% smokefree, responding to customer demand for smokefree rooms and the bar and restaurant bans.  See  Sebel media release 22/3/06

LEADING THE WAY
6/10/05: Wests Diggers Club, Tamworth NSW, will reopen after renovations at the end of October 2005, smokefree in all indoor areas. Club directors voted to restrict smoking to some outdoor covered areas, after a majority vote of the club membership. Chief Executive Rob Laing says members have come to terms with smoking bans and don't expect any harm to trade. Staff and patrons have welcomed the move.   Northern Daily Leader

CLEAN BOWLING CLUBS CLEAN UP
20/9/05: Kembla Heights Bowling Club, south of Wollongong NSW, has joined nearby Austinmer Bowling Club in banning all indoor smoking, well  before NSW Government regulations come into force in July 2007. The Kembla club says the move has been well accepted and has already helped with cleanup costs. The Austinmer club has received a 35% increase in membership since announcing the ban three weeks ago.   Illawarra Mercury

PERTH'S FIRST CITY PUB GOES SMOKEFREE ON QUIT DAY
14/9/04: Perth's first major inner city hotel, the Holiday Inn, has gone totally smoke free from today. The move was a result of a staff request to management of the Holiday Inn, and was celebrated on Quit Day.  More info: contact SmokeFree Australia partner ACOSH (Australian Council on Smoking and Health)

TASMANIAN VENUES AHEAD OF THEIR GOVERNMENT
23/8/04: Many Tasmanian pubs are way ahead of their government and have gone smokefree, reporting no problems.  See great comments from Tas hotelier supporting bans and disputing AHA arguments: ABC World Today 23/8/04    More on Tas pubs and clubs going smokefree: see Nine News report 10/8/04    

MELBOURNE'S FIRST TOTALLY SMOKEFREE PUB CELEBRATES 10 YEARS "CLEAN"
28/5/04: Hotel Y, the first pub in Melbourne to go totally smokefree, has celebrated its tenth birthday of clean air - and says it wouldn't go back to the smoky old days for anyone's money.  See media release 28/5/04

SYDNEY "PUB WITH NO SMOKE" DOING A ROARING TRADE 
April 2003: Since going smokefree in December 2002, Sydney's Tilbury Hotel is "doing a roaring trade," says licensee Gerard Dore, "and the staff appreciate the work environment."   

QUEENSLAND BOWLS CLUB MEMBERSHIP SKYROCKETS AFTER SMOKE BAN 
April 2003: “We went smokefree in May 2001," says Phil Gins, Manager of the Maroochydore Swan Bowls Club. "Our membership is up almost 500%, business has boomed and our staff are much happier.” 

 

SOME SMOKEFREE VENUES IN AUSTRALIA
(just a sample - not a comprehensive list - growing fast!!!)

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