Robert Irwin’s “funny story” in Coffs pays off for local hospitality

WHEN Australia Zoo’s Robert Irwin stopped in at the Jetty Pavilion on his recent road trip down the East Coast and forgot to pay for his takeaway order, no one could have imagined the positive outcome for the restaurant and Coffs Harbour hospitality in general.

“Robert ordered a salad over the phone and when he stopped in to collect it we had a busy table of young ladies near the front door who happened to recognise him,” Jetty Pavilion co-owner Ben Hemsworth told News Of The Area.

“He was friendly and chatted and took photos with them, and when the salad came, he… just forgot to pay as he was obliging the many requests for attention.

“He called the next day, apologised profusely, offered to pay by card or [for us] to send our bank details.”

Ben declined the offer and said the salad was complimentary, given he had been mobbed by Saturday night’s friendly customers, “as long as he was kind enough to leave a favourable review”.

Irwin agreed, Ben said, “in fact he asked us to leave it with him, and he would ‘do one better’.”

Irwin, who has millions of followers across his multiple social media channels, shared his “funny story” on @robertirwinphotography, describing the scenario and then raving about Jetty Pavilion as being “packed, and the place to be”.

He wrote that his salad was “great” and told the world to “go support this great venue”.

His post went viral.

“We already had a reasonable following for a new restaurant with about 3000 followers on Instagram, which has risen to over 13,000, with 3.7 million views this month,” Ben said.

“As well, [there were] about four million related views on Robert’s pages plus hundreds of articles written worldwide.

“It has lifted our bookings and reminded locals we exist.

“We really appreciated the fact that Robert’s focus was on the area as a whole and not just us, as we need [a] lift to restore vibrancy to the area.”

While the region always slows during the winter season, this year has been quieter than most.

“Hospitality in the Coffs region has been struggling.

“There are a lot of businesses for sale or closed down and probably many more feeling the pressure of the soaring cost of goods, 3.5 percent pay rises across the board, and rents that continue to rise.

“The only thing not keeping up are [our] prices.”

Locals, however, are picking up on the “dine and donate” trend.

One generous patron came in and offered to pay for his own salad, Irwin’s salad and to pay one forward.

The money was donated to OzHarvest.

“We also raised the profile of the Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary and had people from around the world chip in to support them with a donation; Robert was very supportive of this work.

“We hope to introduce some new measures to aid with lifting the profile of the area as well as supporting various causes in the near future.

“Overall, the love and support we received was generous and overwhelming and we hope to use the rise in profile to ‘lift all boats with the rising tide’.”

By Andrea FERRARI