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A new initiative is hoping to return activity to the Brisbane City CBD after the pandemic-stricken year.
“Fridays in the City” will encourage city workers to return and rediscover Brisbane through numerous activities, events and incentives on offer throughout the city centre every Friday, from 21 May to 25 June.
The campaign, an initiative from Brisbane City Council and the private sector, ultimately aims to bring back foot traffic in the city centre on Fridays and generate flow-on economic activity, according to Property Council’s Queensland deputy executive director, Jen Williams.
“We know that Friday is the best day of the working week. People are more relaxed, and workers are more likely to go shopping, knock off early for a drink, or meet up with friends for dinner at a restaurant after work,” she said.
“However, since the pandemic, Fridays haven’t been the same.”
Fridays are traditionally the day city-based workers were most likely to spend money and generate flow-on economic activity, but recent office occupancy data from the Property Council found that people now tend to work from home on Mondays and Fridays due to the rise of flexible working arrangements.
“As a result, our city’s office occupancy rate has stagnated at circa 60 per cent, and our CBD retailers are suffering,” the director continued.
As part of the Fridays in the City campaign, building owners, managers and retailers will be providing unique offerings, deals and activities throughout the campaign, including free coffee, food and beverages deals, live music, arts and cultural activities, prizes and raffles.
Further, the private sector’s investment will be supported by complementary activities, including pop-up live music.
Ultimately, Fridays in the City seeks to reignite excitement around the CBD location as a place to shop, dine and work for the residents of the city, lord mayor Adrian Schrinner said.
“Through a swathe of good deals and exciting activations, we want to revitalise office occupancy which in turn will pump more momentum back in Brisbane’s CBD retail and hospitality businesses,” Mr Schrinner said.
“Over the next six weeks, I encourage workers to grab their mates and make the most of everything on offer — whether it’s a free morning coffee, a lunchtime fitness class or knock-off drinks and dinner.”
Looking ahead, Ms Williams hopes the initiative will be one big step towards “breaking the habits of COVID and getting our people back together”, and enable Brisbane to capitalise on investment and be better positioned for the future.
“Fridays in the City provides a great opportunity for employers and employees to get together, collaborate and build team culture, all while supporting the future of the CBD,” she said.
Brisbane’s Fridays in the City follows in the footsteps of the push for Fab Fridays in Melbourne — a campaign that aims to showcase the best of Melbourne through a series of free events and incentives.
The reactivation of the CBDs has been deemed an important contributor to the continued recovery and growth of Australia’s economy post-pandemic, according to Property Council chief executive Ken Morrison.
“The employment, productivity and economic benefits of enlivened CBDs are immense. We want everyone with a stake in the future of our CBDs to engage in this conversation,” Mr Morrison concluded.
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