It is estimated that up to $1 billion in revenue has been lost on the Valentine’s Day weekend as part of the State Government’s latest statewide lockdown. Through no fault of their own, restaurants, florists, retailers, hotels and tourism venues have paid the price for the failures in the hotel quarantine and contact tracing system.

Hospitality venues that had pre-purchased an estimated $27 million of produce to cater for the most romantic day of the year have had no option other than to throw their produce (and profits) in the bin. It is also estimated that florists across Victoria have suffered a $36 million shortfall.

“Victorian businesses in the hospitality, events and floristry sectors have been left heartbroken on what is meant to be the most romantic day of the year, and their most profitable,” said Victorian Chamber (VCCI) Chief Executive Paul Guerra.

Following this latest devastation to Victorian businesses, VCCI has launched a campaign calling on all Victorians to unite and support our local businesses by celebrating Valentine’s Day two weeks late.

We are asking Victorians to show their support by sharing their 28 February Valentine’s Day booking or experience on their social channels with #ValentinesDayDoOver and, of course, tagging their local business.

“We all want our favourite restaurants, cafes, venues and florists to be around for next year’s Valentine’s Day and ‘they can just do take-away’ really isn’t going to cut it. The best thing we can do for these businesses is to boost their revenue which is why the Victorian Chamber is proposing that we reschedule Valentine’s Day for two weeks later, on 28 February this year.”

Though it seems Groundhog Day replaced Valentine’s Day for Victorians this year, if we can show our local businesses the love we had planned for Valentine’s Day, we can get 2021 back on track and move forward together.

Help and support for your business

Reminder: all open businesses and services are required to enact a COVIDSafe Plan. For templates and guides, the Victorian Chamber has a range of resources that can assist you develop and implement a COVIDSafe Plan. The Victorian Chamber’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing team can assist with your COVIDSafe Plan and other related needs, so please contact 03 8662 5333 or hsw@victorianchamber.com.au to discuss in more detail.

For assistance on any aspect of your employment obligations, please call the Victorian Chamber Workplace Relations Advice Line on 8662 5222. For strategic workplace relations and employment law compliance (e.g. restructure, redundancy, representation at the Fair Work Commission, modern award interpretation, leave entitlements, dismissal and termination of employment advice) contact our Workplace Relations Consulting team on 03 8662 5222 or email workplacerelations@victorianchamber.com.au.

If you need advice from a business leader on managing your business during periods of lockdown, or completely changing your business model to survive, you can access the services of an experienced professional to help navigate these challenges through the Business Recovery and Resilience Mentoring program. This program is delivered by the Victorian Chamber, in partnership with the state government, and is free for eligible Victorian small businesses.