The decision to pare back Boag's to only its brewery operations has been met by confusion from employees of the visitor centre.
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The Boag's brewery venue, which includes the hosting of its tours, pub and function centre, will be axed at the end of January.
Multiple employees, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed the closure hadn't made sense on any level.
"As far as I'm aware, we were the only venue of Lion making a profit," one employee said.
"My belief is it was really profitable, and the situation with the number of people in the venue and tours was gradually improving and would have continued to do so," another said.
The decision was described as a "blow".
"It's closing down one of the iconic venues and one of the few hospitality venues open on a weekend in Launceston," they said.
"Also when people did a tour, they walked away as brand ambassadors.
"I think there's enough hospitality venues closing in Launceston, it seems crazy for such an iconic brand to be closed.
"It's just more people without jobs."
As far as I'm aware, we were the only venue of Lion making a profit.
- Boags brewery visitor centre employee
It is understood tours pre-COVID-19 had groups of around 20 people. At the height of restrictions tours were limited to 12 people.
Tour groups can now have 15 people, with the number of tours growing from three to four.
The source said recent tour groups had been full and they had still been "turning people away".
On Wednesday, a Lion spokesperson said one of the reasons behind the decision to close the visitor centre was the impacts of COVID-19 on the hospitality and tourism industry.
The Examiner asked Lion what the visitor numbers were pre- and since COVID-19 at the Launceston venue.
Lion has not provided the figures.
Boag's Brewery director Nathan Calman said the industry was yet to recover from pre-COVID-19 levels.
Icon's closure no laughing matter
Soon to be unemployed Boag's employees broke the news of the brewery's visitor centre's closure to Fresh Comedy, its producer says.
Fresh Comedy has been a regular fixture with monthly national headlining comedians at the brewery for close to five years.
Speaking on Thursday morning, producer and host Stewart Bell said they had heard no formal communication from Boag's.
"It shouldn't be communicated through people losing their jobs, it should be the decision makers telling us," Mr Bell said.
"It's a corporate decision that puts profit before people."
He said they weren't the only ones, with trivia host Matt Little also finding out in the same way.
"Everyone at Fresh Comedy really feels for the people impacted at Boag's and the workers who have lost their job," he said.
"We can find a new space, but they need to find new jobs, which is pretty hard."
Noting the venue as a great experience and place to eat, Mr Bell said Launceston was losing something bigger and more significant to the community.
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