Well-laid plans for the celebration of the season at the Shamrock Hotel were derailed when its musical act was declared a close-contact of a COVID-19 positive case and had to cancel his show and self isolate.

Shamrock Hotel owner and regional spokesman for the Australian Hotels Association, Ray Sharawara, said the 2021 lockdowns had entered a new and worrying phase.

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"We got the information the day before. We tried desperately to get a replacement,'' he said "We have a lot of entertainers on our books but they were all booked for gigs right around the state. We tried everyone. In the end we had to rely on background music."

Mr Sharawara said the other venues had better luck with the availability of their entertainment acts but some were affected by lower than usual staffing levels.

The Piano Bar had a packed house upstairs for its show, starring drag queen Polly Filla.

Manager Rebecca Chalmer said the show had been eagerly anticipated. "It's a lot of fun and we kept our wine bar open downstairs for people to have a quiet drink before everybody was ready to start dancing."

Mr Sharawara said the Shamrock Hotel was fully booked as well and many of the CBD venues had done well.

"Crowds were good - people came out and that was terrific under the circumstances,'' he said. "People are still a bit apprehensive because of COVID-19 which is understandable."

Mr Sharawara said requirements for self-isolation were shaping up as the next big challenge for the hospitality sector.

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"It's a problem we all face going forward from New Year's Eve. If a staff member tests positive everybody who has been with them has to be notified - including the people they work with - then has to test and self-isolate,'' he said.

"That would shut us down because then nobody could work. It's what we dread.

"Two pubs in Melbourne were shut down just before New Year's Eve. We've moved on from state mandated lockdowns to a new phase of lockdowns via policy decisions due to the self isolation periods."

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