On a muggy weeknight in central Queensland, a sea of young people dressed in bright active wear pack out a pub.
asserted
sea → dress → pub
The group is refuelling after taking part in a weekly run club, where runners can cash in on a meal discount at a rotating list of venues.
asserted
runners → refuel → venues
Tucking into a steak and salad, 26-year-old Harrison Boag says his alcohol consumption is close to zero drinks a week.
asserted
consumption → tuck → steak
"I just enjoy being healthy and drinking wasn't helping with that, so I realised at a certain point it doesn't fit into my life," he says.
asserted
he → enjoy → life
A Flinders University study found generation Z are 20 times less likely than baby boomers to choose to drink alcohol.
asserted
Z → find → alcohol
It's one of many challenges facing the nightlife industry, according to Queensland's first night-life economy commissioner, John "JC" Collins.
uncertain
It → face → commissioner
"Young people have been healthy, which is great, but … they're not spending as much over the bar," he says.
asserted
he → spend → bar
The Powderfinger bassist says the cost of doing business has "gone through the roof", with rising insurance, supply prices and wages.
asserted
cost → say → insurance
"That balance of what's gone up and the revenues coming down is really squeezing most of the venues across the state."
Pub owner Stephen Roberts hosts the run club group at his venue monthly and says nightlife culture has shifted away from just serving alcohol.
asserted
culture → go → alcohol
"We're sort of reaching out to a crowd that maybe we wouldn't have reached out to before [because] we're quite an old-school country-style pub," he says.
asserted
he → reach → that
Experience economy
Coined in a 1998 Harvard Business Review article, the "experience economy" is a concept that businesses can create more value by offering memorable experiences rather than simply selling products or services.
asserted
businesses → coin → products
Associate Professor Felix Septianto, from the University of Queensland, specialises in consumer behaviour.
asserted
Septianto → specialise → behaviour
He says nightlife patrons remember an event or experience over the beverage they ordered.
asserted
they → say → beverage
"We can buy a beer or a glass of wine almost anywhere … what makes people choose to go to a venue?" he says.
"
asserted
he → buy → venue
People don't just buy products or services, they buy the feelings."
asserted
they → buy → feelings
Dr Septianto says selling memorable experiences could help regional businesses perform well in a market with a smaller population base.
uncertain
businesses → say → base
"When in the regional areas … we cannot always rely on getting new people," he says.
"Offering different activities and experiences would give our customers reasons to keep coming back."
Post-COVID nightlife
The night-life economy commissioner's Moonside report flags changing patron behaviours after COVID lockdowns as another factor inhibiting the industry.
asserted
report → rely → industry
Jordan Baker-Moller used to manage a Rockhampton nightclub and recalls the city's nightlife before the pandemic as "vibrant" with ample entertainment options.
asserted
Moller → use → options
"You had heaps of venues open just in the CBD and genuinely thousands of people out across both Friday and Saturday night," he says.
asserted
You → have → night
Mr Baker-Moller says he's witnessed a decline in young people coming out after lockdowns.
"COVID was a massive reset … in the way people view a night out and how the culture works.
asserted
culture → say → night
A lot of places didn't really recover."
asserted
lot → recover → places
Among them was Mr Baker-Moller's former venue, which closed earlier this year.
asserted
which → close → them
"I do see the future … [being] around pop-up micro events that are centered more on the music and a particular culture and a particular vibe," he says.
asserted
he → see → music
On the main strip of coastal town Yeppoon, Leah Crowley's venue has had success homing in on one popular subculture: hosting drag queen nights.
"For our business, it's been amazing … it has been consistently a sellout," she says.
asserted
she → have → business
Ms Crowley's restaurant has been hosting the bimonthly event for six years, and she says the appetite for unique events in the community is strong.
asserted
appetite → host → community
"The support here, the confidence in numbers was incredible," she says.
asserted
she → say → numbers
The Aporia