Community pub a true winner Karen Kilsby, general manager of the Loxton Hotel. THE Loxton Community Hotel Motel is thriving under the unique community ownership model that is common to several Riverland hotels. In its latest expansion, the business is also helping the Riverland tentatively spring back to life, due in part to benefits provided by Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund. The 104-year-old hotel employs 72 people and is one of the larger employers in town, providing a range of benefits including granting $70,000 to community organisations last year. Loxton Hotel general manager Karen Kilsby said the hotel, aided by an $865,484 assistance grant from the fund, has embarked on an expansion program that would otherwise have taken years to complete. It is already helping the hotel expand its tourism business with visitor numbers rising. In the fashion of other community owned hotels in the Riverland, the Loxton Hotel, is the heart of the town, providing a range of benefits to the community and its people including donations and sponsorships. "The Riverland has done it pretty tough with droughts, but it is starting to revitalise and move forward," Ms Kilsby said. Everyone seems to be progressing in the region and there's a generally more positive approach. People have seen the struggle in the past few years, but Loxton has continued on and it's the community spirit that helps. Ms Kilsby said the upgraded hotel is boosting the town's tourism capability and helping attract more conferences to the area, while providing the Riverland with a fresh alternative for tourism, conferences, weddings and other events. Established as a community-owned hotel in the 1950s, it follows in the footsteps of the Renmark Hotel, the first community-owned hotel in the British Empire in 1897. Ms Kilsby said the community hotel is the meeting place for various sporting clubs and other groups because it provides them with free meeting and conference rooms and is a very popular place to dine and get together with friends and family. "With the funding from the Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund, we've got a new vision and by being able to gain funds and match that dollar for dollar, we've moved forward five years sooner," she said. It has given us a wider appeal and the town a new lease of life because the hotel is its hub. Ms Kilsby said the hotel has a lot of travellers including people from Adelaide who arrive and say "it's so relaxing compared to the hustle and bustle of the city" and also that there is so much to do in the region. "We're well on the way to being a really successful hotel with a bright future," she said. The success is due to both Riverland patrons and those from outside the area. Without the locals we wouldn't be here and without the tourists we wouldn't be here. The Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund has committed $15 million to 26 projects in areas including food and beverage, education and tourism, helping to create 219 jobs.