Covid exposures force Queensland restaurants to shut during ?busiest week of the year?

Queensland restaurants looking forward to a bumper Christmas as tourists return are instead shutting their doors as Covid case numbers increase in the state.

Some 300,000 people from Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, which have been experiencing high case numbers, travelled into Queensland after it opened its borders on 13 December.

The hospitality industry was already crippled by staff shortages caused by closed borders and a lack of migrants and backpackers. Now restaurants are being forced to close as staff found to be close contacts must quarantine for a week.

Noosa has been hit hard because of the small population pool, the dominance of the tourism industry, and the influx of tourists from other states.

In one venue, Sum Yung Guys, 23 staff have been deemed close contacts after another tested positive, and has closed for a week. Popular restaurant Bistro C is shut until 27 December, Paradise Arcade has closed until further notice and Theo's Social Club has closed until 30 December.

Wes Lambert, Restaurant and Catering Australia's chief executive, said people were frustrated seeing tourists enter the state from Covid hotspots without isolating while staff had to quarantine.

"The hospitality industry in Queensland was one of the hardest hit industries and continues to be so as we enter into the fourth wave with the Omicron variant," he said.