Terrigal is known for its beaches, but a growing group of local businesses is working to strengthen its reputation as a vibrant destination for visitors year-round. Among them is hospitality operator Karl Schlothauer, whose work is helping to bring businesses together around a shared vision for the precinct.
For more than 2 decades, Karl Schlothauer has helped shape New South Wales' hospitality industry. Best known for his work in Sydney's YCK Laneways, spanning York, Clarence and Kent streets in the CBD, Schlothauer has built a reputation for creating vibrant hospitality destinations. But his work in Sydney is only part of the story.
The other chapter of Schlothauer's hospitality story is in Terrigal.
Photo Credit: The Esplanade Terrigal
As owner of Pocket Bar Terrigal and District Coordinator for the Terrigal Esplanade, Schlothauer is helping local businesses work together to strengthen Terrigal's reputation as a year-round destination for visitors and locals alike.
"Despite living in Sydney for 20 years, I'd actually never visited the Central Coast. My dad got a job around here, and when I visited, I asked, "where do people go out around here?" Turns out, there weren't a lot of options at the time."
Not long after, Pocket Bar Terrigal opened in 2013 and has since become a fixture of the local hospitality scene. The venue's philosophy, according to Schlothauer, is deliberately uncomplicated.
Photo Credit: The Esplanade Terrigal
"Our ethos is experience without the fluff," he says.
"It's all about the guest experience and making sure people are looked after and remembered. It's not about telling the world we're the greatest bar in the world or that our ice comes from some special mountain in the Himalayas. It's just about having a good time."
The same philosophy now informs his work beyond the bar itself. Increasingly, his focus is on how businesses can work together to create a destination that offers more than any single venue could achieve on its own.
Building a destination, not just a venue
While Pocket Bar gave Schlothauer an anchor point into the community, he quickly recognised opportunities that extended far beyond the walls of his own business.
Drawing on lessons learned from Sydney's YCK Laneways, Schlothauer worked with local businesses to establish the Terrigal Esplanade District through support from the NSW Government. The initiative brought businesses together around a shared vision for the precinct and provided a foundation for long-term collaboration and investment.
For Schlothauer, the work is about more than promoting individual businesses. It's about creating a stronger, more connected precinct that can attract visitors, support local jobs and build long-term economic activity. This precinct-led approach is increasingly being adopted across NSW as communities look to strengthen their local economies and visitor offerings.
Photo Credit: The Esplanade Terrigal
Today, around 20 hospitality operators actively participate in the District, including The Crowne Plaza, Terrigal Beach House, Mumbo Jumbo's, K'Serra and a wide range of local bars and restaurants, brought together under the tagline: Where the coast meets the high street.
"The footprint of the precinct is only about 180 metres long, so everybody talks to everybody. That's one of the advantages of being here."
The District model allows businesses to pool ideas, resources and marketing efforts to create a stronger collective identity. For visitors, that means a more connected precinct experience. For businesses, it creates opportunities to collaborate rather than compete.
The Esplanade's solution to seasonality
Like many coastal destinations, Terrigal experiences seasonal fluctuations in its visitor economy.
The town thrives during summer and holiday periods but can experience significantly quieter trading conditions during winter and midweek periods. For many coastal businesses, addressing seasonal peaks and troughs is one of the biggest challenges to long-term growth. Schlothauer believes creating reasons for people to visit beyond summer is critical to supporting local businesses and jobs year-round.
"We want to make the consumer experience a little bit more than the standard offering," he says.
Central to that strategy is showcasing the broader Central Coast through events, activations and partnerships with local producers.
Photo Credit: The Esplanade Terrigal
The region is home to a growing network of breweries, distilleries, wineries, farmers and artisan makers. Many are located across the hinterland and harder-to-reach areas of the Coast, making them difficult for visitors to discover. Rather than asking visitors to travel across the region, Schlothauer wants to bring those experiences directly into Terrigal.
A prime example of this is Stroll the Esplanade, the District's first multi-venue event, which brings together local producers and hospitality venues to showcase the best of the Central Coast. The event encourages visitors to explore the precinct, discover new businesses and experience the region in a new way. For districts like Terrigal, creating those experiences is only part of the equation. Building awareness is equally important, and platforms such as Neon Marketplace help businesses and precincts connect with new audiences, promote local events and strengthen their profile within NSW's 24-hour economy.
Earning Purple Flag in Terrigal
Schlothauer's long involvement in Sydney's night-time economy has also influenced some of the practical improvements he's pursuing locally - one of which, is Purple Flag accreditation. YCK Laneways, Schlothauer's other District, earned the first Purple Flag accreditation in Australia, recognising its excellence in night-time economy management. Now he wants to achieve the same in Terrigal.
"As far as next steps go, I think aiming for Purple Flag [accreditation] is a bit of a no-brainer here."
While events and activations help draw visitors in, Schlothauer believes the long-term success of a precinct depends on creating places that feel safe, welcoming and easy to navigate, particularly at night.
For Schlothauer, Purple Flag represents an internationally recognised benchmark for safe, welcoming and well-managed nightlife destinations. Achieving accreditation would further strengthen Terrigal's reputation as a destination for both residents and visitors.
"For me, I try to think about the guest experience while people are here and seeing how it matches up to those 5 core Purple Flag pillars. It's constantly asking if we've done all the right things to ensure that experience is well managed."
For Schlothauer, improving the visitor experience also means focusing on the practical infrastructure that supports a successful night-time economy. One priority has been improving late-night transport connections to help people travel safely and conveniently to and from the precinct.
"There was supposed to be a secure taxi rank every Saturday night from 11pm to 4am, which wasn't secured. Through my learnings from YCK, I knew the right channels to get to the right person to make sure that was coming back in,” Schlothauer explained.
"Currently, most public transport options finish around 11pm. We're also working on a late-night transport option to connect Gosford and Terrigal after then."
Photo Credit: The Esplanade Terrigal
Paving the way for future precincts
Schlothauer's goals extends well beyond his own businesses and bottom line. He also wants to ensure the experience of running a hospitality business or a precinct is smoother for those looking to do so in the future.
Through his work in both Sydney and Terrigal, Schlothauer has seen firsthand how collaboration can transform a precinct. He hopes those lessons can help other communities looking to strengthen their local visitor economies and build more vibrant destinations.
"The big thing for me is sharing what I've learned over the last 20 years in hospitality and running businesses so it makes it a little bit easier for the next people coming through."
Rather than focusing solely on individual venues, Schlothauer is investing in the broader ecosystem around them, creating partnerships, improving infrastructure and developing experiences that encourage visitors to stay longer, return more often and discover a different side of the Central Coast.
For Schlothauer, the goal is not simply to grow a destination, but to create a model for how businesses, councils and communities can work together to strengthen local economies. As more districts emerge across NSW, the lessons from Terrigal highlight the value of collaboration, shared vision and long-term investment in place.