To meet local community demand for event spaces, Tweed City has just become the first shopping centre in Australia to sign up to community spaces booking platform, Vennu.
The neighbourhood shopping centre has listed a community room as available for bookings by local small businesses, community groups and customers for all types of functions.
Centre Manager, Grant Jolley said: “Signing up to Vennu means we can strengthen our position as a community hub and help meet local demand for event spaces, whether it’s to host a birthday party, business meeting or workshops.
“Shopping centres are evolving to be more than a place to shop – they’re also places for the community to gather, be entertained or access important services. We’re always looking for opportunities to meet our customers’ changing needs.”
The newly refurbished community room is a spacious 95m2 space that is located near amenities such as parking and bathrooms. The room has tables and seating available for up to 50 people, and the centre’s nearby cafes and restaurants can easily cater for events.
Vennu CEO, Suzanne Campbell said: “Tweed City is the first shopping centre to cater to the upswing in demand for events, as public health regulations now allow for staging events in a COVID-safe way.
“We ran research with 1,200 consumers in 2020 that indicated, even then, that 70% were confident of running a safe and successful event in the future. Currently around 50% of people are looking to hire unique community spaces for events, and this is likely to hit 75% by the end of this year. We are seeing bookings increase markedly, and a lot of demand for affordable community spaces, particularly for milestone birthday parties, kids’ events, and engagement parties.
“The increased interest in community spaces such as Tweed City’s could be due to the combined effects of last year’s bushfires and the pandemic. People are still looking to stay local and support local businesses.”
The community room can be booked for an hourly rate of $40 or full-day bookings for $100.
