Hospo Owners Collective open letter pleads for virus rules to ease

More than 100 hotel owners have penned a desperate open letter to the Premier pleading to be allowed more customers before they’re forced out of business.

Duke of Brunswick owner Simone Douglas, with Nicolle Hahn from Pony & Cole, Two Accents Gin’s Laurie Bilby, Dave O’Connell from the Dog & Duck, Andrew Friebe of Maximilians and Damian Peterson from the Hotel Metropolitan say they can’t bear current restrictions any longer. Picture: Dean Martin

The hospitality sector is pleading with the State Government to ease venue capacity limits, warning businesses are on the verge of closing their doors.

An industry group, Hospo Owners Collective, has written to Premier Steven Marshall and the transition committee, calling for rules to be eased to one person per 1.5sq m, instead of one per 2sq m, and for dance floor limits to be raised to 100 people, up from 50.

With JobKeeper payments set to end on March 28, the group has warned significant job cuts were also likely across SA’s hospitality industry unless immediate changes were made.

Duke of Brunswick Hotel publican and group co-founder Simone Douglas said current restrictions had “completely hamstrung” the sector, which is worth an estimated $4.3bn to the state’s economy and employs about 26,000 people.

“The venues can’t continue to carry the can if they can’t trade at a reasonable volume,” she said.

“You tell me what other business you can take away 50 per cent of your clients and still make a living?

“If there is no movement on capacity restrictions in the very short term, then you’re going to see a lot of businesses who have to make that very difficult decision (to close) because they’ve just been holding on, and holding on.”

The open letter, written by Ms Douglas on behalf of the 120 members of the collective, also calls for a clear pathway for future changes to restrictions, saying many of them are in a “holding pattern that is causing a great deal of emotional, mental and financial stress”.

“We are all in pain. I respectfully request that you give us some breathing room, some hope and a pathway to hold on to and move towards,” the letter states.

Ms Douglas said businesses needed to be able to “plan for their survival”.

Current licensed venue rules have been in place since early December when capacity was doubled from one person per 4sq m to a patron every 2sq m.

Dancing while drinking was allowed for the first time in almost a year at the end of February, with partygoers unrestricted in venues with a capacity of up to 200 people.

But the police-enforced rules cap dance floors at 50 people in a special 10sq m area in pubs, clubs or licensed venues with crowds of between 201 and 999 people.

Australian Hotels Association SA boss Ian Horne backed the group’s demands.

Premier Steven Marshall. Picture: Keryn Stevens

“Unless we can get the capacity up – and well before winter arrives – there will be business closures, particularly at the smaller end, particularly in regional areas and in the CBD,” he said.

“Now if we are about to have 40,000 at the football … if big sporting arenas can have 75 per cent capacity, why not hospitality? It’s a no-brainer,” Nicolle Hahn, owner of Hindmarsh cafe Pony and Cole, said smaller venues were hit the hardest during the pandemic.

“JobKeeper was at least paying bills and helping them stay afloat,” she said.

Mr Marshall said his government was investing $4bn in economic stimulus measures to support local businesses and protect jobs.

“We have always said that we do not want to keep one restriction in place for a day longer than we have to,” he said.

“It is absolutely vital we listen to the health advice – it has got us this far and we are the safest state, in the safest nation as a result.”

He said SA’s hospitality sector had some of the lowest restrictions in Australia.