‘Victoria's snap lockdown cost us thousands of dollars,’ claim hospitality business owners

Victoria’s five-day ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown enforced between February 13 and 17 has dealt a serious blow on the state’s hospitality industry, already groaning under the weight of losses incurred from the previous two lockdowns. Wedding venues, restaurants, pubs and cafes have not only had to cancel bookings, but also discard the food that had been ordered to cater to their customers.

Gary Kaila, head chef and director of a Melbourne-based Italian restaurant chain. Source: Gary Kaila

Highlights

• 'Cancelled weddings, parties, Valentine’s Day dinners cost us huge losses’: hospitality business owners
• Businesses expect Victoria government to compensate them for 5-day snap lockdown
• Victoria's businesses were not prepared for third lockdown: Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell

The snap lockdown announced by Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews on the brink of the Valentine’s Day weekend has not only broken hearts but also some businesses which were looking forward to February 14.

Big businesses order food supplies in bulk in advance because it can take them a couple of days to prepare the dishes to be served at large gatherings. Food safety laws in Australia dictate that due to the perishable nature of most food supplies, they can’t be refrigerated for more than a couple of days.

Bookings cancelled, revenue lost:

Gary Kaila, director and head chef of a multi-venue Italian restaurant business in Melbourne, says the company has had to cancel bookings of nearly 1,000 guests over the Valentine’s Day weekend.

“We run two fine-dining restaurants at Hawthorn and St. Kilda, where we had forecast a combined sale of $155,000 over this Valentine’s Day weekend. After Mr Andrews announced the lockdown, we had to cancel all bookings and resort to takeaway to mitigate the loss,” says Mr Kaila.

Empty hospitality venues during Victoria's third lockdown. Source: Gary Kaila

The mitigation, he says was negligible as the combined earnings at both venues from takeaway sales amounted to only $20,000 over the weekend.

“Almost $25,000 worth of food material ordered in advance to cater to our patrons landed up in the bin. Red roses worth over $1,000 had been ordered. This year Valentine’s Day fell on the weekend, which made it worse for us,” rues Mr Kaila.

Narinder Garg, who owns a banquet hall in Epping, says he also lost revenue to the tune of $25,000 over these five days.

“We had to cancel two parties we had organised for around 300 guests,” says Mr Garg.

Another function venue in Melbourne’s northwest, which prefers not to be named, cancelled two weddings involving 400 guests.

“Some people have a fascination to get married on Valentine’s Day. I had two such clients for this year, who had invited 150 and 250 guests. I lost an opportunity to earn around $24,000,” says the owner of the venue.

Empty seats at the bar in an otherwise bustling pub owned by Mr Singh. Source: Harry Singh

Smaller businesses like pubs have also had to bear the brunt of this short lockdown.

Harry Singh owns two pubs in Melbourne.

“We have a live band at one of our pubs, which attracts many people. This Valentine’s Day, we had two parties for 110 people and 20 table reservations across both our venues. In total, we have lost nearly $30,000. Who’s going to compensate us,” questions Mr Singh.

'Hotel quarantine mismanaged'

Many hospitality industry insiders believe the Daniel Andrews government could have handled the hotel quarantine program better and avoided this snap lockdown. They also hope hospitality businesses be compensated.

Mr Kaila squarely lays the responsibility of these losses at the Victoria government’s door.

A general view of Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport, Monday, 8 February, 2021. Source: AAP

“We were waiting for Valentine’s Day to make good our losses of 2020. The first two lockdowns were understandable as COVID-19 was a new challenge. But after almost a year, the government mismanaged its hotel quarantine program and landed us in this situation,” he says.

Mr Singh believes "the Victoria government is largely at fault in lockdown 3.0."

“Look at other states, they’ve managed COVID so well. Australian Open should’ve been avoided this year, hotels shouldn’t be used as quarantine centres as their staff isn’t equipped to manage contagious diseases,” he comments.

'Government must pick the tab'

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell says the Victoria Government needs to urgently compensate small businesses for this sudden lockdown.

“Unfortunately, this snap lockdown means thousands of Victorian small businesses need to shut up shop for five days without any notice. It is, for this reason, the Victorian Government needs to immediately announce a compensation package for affected small businesses who have lost stock such as flowers and food,” Ms Carnell said on February 13.

“The compensation should also cover all other costs associated with running a business, including staff wages and rent. It is impossible for small businesses to plan for sudden lockdowns and the timing of this one – coinciding with Valentine’s Day and Lunar New Year celebrations – could not be worse,” she added.

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