Post #579700 by harro on Thu, Mar 10, 2011 5:45 AM

I really should get on TC more regularly as this threads a good read. I agree with Trav’s succinct summary above – bars are risky businesses, but after visiting tiki bars around the world and witnessing the burgeoning UK tiki bar scene its hard not to imagine the current trend filtering down to Australia in some form or another. Apart from Hula Bula in Perth and a small Tiki lounge in Melbourne, the trend of well crafted tropical cocktails / communal drinks as a spectacle / sophisticated tiki décor etc hasn’t hit the otherwise finger-on-pulse bar culture of Syd/Melb yet. Why hasn’t someone attempted it yet? I’m very interested to know about this as its something I’ve floated as a business idea amongst various contacts. The obvious risk I see is what was mentioned earlier that 95% of average Australians only want beer or basic spirits so the marketing plan for drinks must be well thought out (ie location, target demographics, quality v cost etc, as touched on above). I just hope that when someone does do it that they do it properly so that the “tiki bar” idea doesn’t come across as “tacky” to the general public.

As for the Gold coast Trav – its an interesting place that’s had a few cool shops and bars come and go over my lifetime near there, and a few years ago some friends resurrected the dilapidated Crab Cooker restaurant in Surfers Paradise into a happening 70’s style beachhouse bar and club (Swingin Safari), fitted out entirely with cool junk shop finds. Strangely enough it was hugely popular with the surfer kids but then new management overtook it and I’m not sure how it is these days, but its testament that funky places out of the ordinary can survive in the capital of plastic Surfers of all places.