On-off lockdowns in other states are hurting Sunshine Coast restaurateurs who say bookings plummet each time restrictions are invoked elsewhere.
Despite the Sunshine Coast having no recent outbreaks or lockdowns, some restaurants are suffering the impact of sudden interstate shutdowns.
The pattern has become so obvious that some restaurateurs wait in dread for the next virus cluster.
When North Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne went into lockdown, customer numbers at Pum’s Thai in Maroochydore instantly plummeted followed by gradual recoveries.
“What happens is that whenever an outbreak occurs – and it does not seem to matter where it occurs or even if our borders were closed or not – business at Sunshine Coast restaurants, whose customers are of the more mature crowd, slows dramatically,” said Pum’s Thai owner Chris Pyatt.
“We are talking about 60% overnight.
“Small business owners are actually paying the costs of these on again off again scares and lockdowns.”
When Adelaide went into a lockddown in November, Pum’s Thai had an instant 60 per cent reduction in turnover.
The same happened when Sydney’s Northern Beaches residents were confined to their homes before Christmas – takings dived 60 per cent.
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And when Brisbane’s snap three-day weekend lockdown was announced, Pum’s Thai went from enjoying a $2300 night to $800 on the Saturday.
“We lost 70% of our bookings on that Friday, but were very lucky to have had a good evening with takeaway,” he said.
Mr Pyatt said the popular Ocean Street restaurant, which opened in January 2020 just before the pandemic, could lose an entire week’s profit from one bad night caused by virus restrictions outside of the Sunshine Coast.
The pattern has become so obvious that Mr Pyatt and wife Pum religiously watch premiers’ announcements and keep track of the news headlines.
“If there’s an outbreak or somewhere is in lockdown it’s getting to the point now where we know we need to cut staff because we know we’re not going to get anyone in,” he said.
“Older demographics are a lot more cautious about this so that’s affecting one particular sector of the market.”
Mr Pyatt urged locals to consider takeaway even they felt too uncertain to eat out because of COVID.
“If you can’t come out to eat, get takeaway because businesses desperately need continued support,” he said.
“Order your meals on the phone and then take the meals to eat at home.”
However not all venues are taking the hits, with South American bar and restaurant Machu Picchu’s younger 30 to 50-year-old crowd seemingly undeterred by interstate COVID woes.
Mick Wallace, the owner of Machu Picchu which has been open for several years, said only the Brisbane lockdown had impacted his bookings which fell about 25 per cent.
“Right up until Brisbane we were pumping and this weekend we had another cracker,” Mr Wallace said.
“Right up until Brisbane we were doing almost record numbers in terms of turning people around.”
Mr Pyatt said he believed Brisbane’s snap lockdown was an “over-reaction” that did not consider the impact on people running any kind of business.
“The economic toll was not worth it because of one virus case passed to her partner,” he said.
“It all could have been achieved without the lockdown. There is an over-abundance of caution but the cost to business is not taken into account.”
