Businesses come to grips with Great Barrier Reef bleaching

Kevin Collins says the bleaching debate is about perceptions.

Kevin Collins owns Fish D'vine and the Rum Bar, at the heart of the Great Barrier Reef in Airlie Beach, The Whitsundays.

The business is a multi-faceted restaurant and catering operation across a number of venues for almost 300,000 guests annually and employs about 45 locals.

Established 12 years ago, the Rum Bar provides catering for cruise companies, super yachts, function venues and remote locations including Whitehaven Beach and the Great Barrier Reef.

The aftermath of bleaching around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef in May. Photo: Supplied

"We are a true North Queensland experience, rather than a Sydney or Melbourne restaurant transplanted to the north," says Collins.

He says adaptability has been key to his success. "We have evolved with, and at times in advance of, the changing demographics of our regional tourism mix and the changing food trends and needs of our guests."

Like any business owner, Collins faces his share of regular challenges, such as labour costs, regulation and taxation. "Negative publicity about the reef is certainly a risk factor beyond our control, as is a fluctuating dollar."

Tourists enjoying Queensland's beaches.

On a positive note, he says as the mining boom has slowed and the dollar has fallen Australia has become more competitive in international tourist markets. "We have rapidly growing interest from Asian visitors and we're developing and adapting our offerings to suit this market. Chinese guests in particular seem less concerned about the costs and far more concerned about the experience."

The Great Barrier Reef has attracted controversy recently, with one report suggesting the reef is undergoing its greatest ever coral bleaching event. However, a conflicting report suggests bleaching reports have been overstated. The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently pledged $1 billion to the maintenance of the Great Barrier reef.

Collins says the debate is about perceptions. "Having lived on and around the Great Barrier Reef for more than 30 years I have seen the ebb and flow. It really is a living thing. Natural phenomenon like extreme weather events can cause tremendous damage. After a few good years everything grows back."

One small business doing its bit for the reef is The Good Beer Co, which claims to be Australia's first social enterprise beer company. The first batch of The Good Beer Co's first beer, Great Barrier Beer, was crowdfunded and brewed in February by Queensland craft brewery partner Bargara Brewing Company and sold to raise funds for the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

With support from organisations like Tourism and Events Queensland, the beer is now on its third batch and stocked in an ever-growing list of 40-plus businesses up and down the reef and into Queensland.

Founder James Grugen says local pubs and others recognise stocking the beer is a really easy way for them, their staff and their customers to do something positive about the current state of the reef. There are also plans to launch around the country.

As for Collins' growth plans, he says he continues to monitor visitor expectations and trends and be ready for the many event-driven business opportunities around the reef, such as the sailing season, Chinese Golden Week and the local music festival.

He says every opportunity requires a new approach. "There is no one-size-fits-all operating system in a business like ours. We will also continue to invest in the social media space, our blogs, food education programs and supply-chain programs because it is not only environmentally important but because providence is becoming such an important consideration for guests in the modern marketplace."