Capital region restaurants and wineries want Canberrans to take advantage of Sydney cancellations to help ease the pain of a 90 per cent drop in bookings at some locations.
The extended COVID-19 Sydney lockdown is having a flow-in impact in Canberra, with school holiday tourism numbers dropping and businesses scrambling to make up for lost revenue.
The Truffle Farm says it has tickets available for the first time in five years after bookings dropped from 300 to just 28 in the first week of lockdown and 24 in the second.
Truffle Farm executive chef Damian Brabender said the travel restrictions on Sydneysiders had heightened anxiety in the Canberra hospitality industry, while Van du Vin Winery Tours said there bookings were down 50 per cent.
Of those who have cancelled, Mr Brabender said nearly all were due to the latest Covid restrictions.
"Many ACT businesses [like Truffle Farms] are very dependent on NSW for their business, Mr Brabender said.
"For the first time in five years we actually have tickets available for our normally booked out events, the farm is usually booked out more than a year in advance.
"People can do these kind of events that they couldn't before, it'd be a shame if locals didn't take advantage of it."
Mr Barbender also owns OTIS, estimating he had had about 80 cancellations each week, with a 60 per cent drop in new bookings in the second week of the Sydney lockdown.
Taking inspiration from the Tourism Australia campaign Holiday Here this Year, Mr Brabender said: "people in the ACT, let's band together, do what we do best and support local [businesses]."
Part owner of Van du Vin Winery Tours Nathan McDowell said bookings were 50 per cent lower than expected and traffic on their website was also down by 70 per cent.
"I don't think people are aware that we are still open, you might have to wear a mask while walking around but we're still here." Mr McDowell said.
"It's really unfortunate timing as the 2021 white vintages are coming out around now, which was really exciting as the 2020 ones were all destroyed by the smoke."
Mr Brabender said he understood the necessity of the restrictions, but he felt the ACT government was not doing enough to support businesses affected.
"This is not just a health issue, we're being abandoned by the ACT government," he said.
"Why haven't we learned from the experiences we've just gone through? We need a proper plan, you can't just have things thrown at you."
With lockdowns extended in NSW, Mr Brabender reiterated the need for more support from the government, but said "we're calling on assistance from the public, while we wait for the government to make up its mind."
