Providers in the region have had two weeks with their venues open to the whole of Victoria under the COVID vaccination rules and it has been a busy time for many.

Pomonal Estate owners Adam and Pepita Atchison said it has been "nuts" so far at their venue, with a busy summer holiday period coming.

Mrs Atchison said it has been delightful to have metro and regional Victoria customers back at their venue, with all the customers doing their bit.

"Everyone has been patient and everyone has been really good," Mrs Atchison said.

"This what we built it for, we built it for people to come.

"It has been good, we have had some people here and there's has been a great atmosphere.

"People have been happy and ready to have some fun and talk."

But like many venues in the region, the reopening has coincided with a lack of hospitality workers in the Grampians.

"A lot of the venues are running on less staff because of the mandate being brought forwards," Mr Atchison said.

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"We didn't have four of our workers and we are also looking for more chefs too.

"We will have to be in the kitchen until we can find some replacements.

"We were lucky, we were able to keep a lot of our employees on JobKeeper and so that was a bonus.

"But some workers lost their jobs in the industry and needed work somewhere else and now they have found a job that is different and they're not coming back."

The couple said the lack of workers in the Grampians could also be attributed to less backpackers and international workers to fill the shortfalls.

As a solution Mr and Mrs Atchison have hired three staff, all based in Pomonal, and said they will keep doing their best to ensure their doors are open.

"We employee a lot of locals and our daughters work here as well," Mrs Atchison said.

"Anyone local we try to keep them working here.

"We have just got to keep growing. We have added so much on during COVID and you can't stop now.

"The day you stop is the day you die.

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"We have had our challenges, everyone has.

"As long as our staff are okay, they are our duty of care, and our customers are doing the right thing, that's all we can do."

Throughout Halls Gap and the Grampians many businesses have been forced to change their operating hours due to staffing issues.

For example, Paper, Scissors, Rock Brew Co, The Town Fryer, the Halls Gap Hotel and SEN Vietnamese are some who have altered the hours they have been able to serve their customers since the statewide COVID restrictions changed.

Darcy's Bar and Stonegrill also announced they would be closed until further notice due to a lack of staff.

In the lead up to what is expected to be a very busy summer holiday period, Grampians Tourism chief executive Marc Sleeman said more support is needed for businesses.

"The forward bookings look extremely solid moving forward into December and January and they are all at capacity which is fantastic news for our operators," he said.

"The job issue has been amplified with the double vaccination requirements under the COVID restrictions and it has certainly impacted a number of restaurants that haven't been able to reopen."

Mr Sleeman said addressing the issues was one of Grampians Tourism's highest priorities in the lead up to summer.

"For us it is taking preference over that demand driving activity at the moment," he said.

"Our main method is the 'Live the Grampians Way' campaign on our website.

"We have had almost 6000 visits to the sight last month and that was up of the previous month, with 52 per cent of our online visitors from Melbourne.

"There is considerable concern for businesses across the region and a real uncertainty about how they will manage the Christmas peak period

"It is a key area of concern and should be an area of focus for the state government and we are definitely hoping for some support and some focus on being able to attract further people into the region for the roles we have going.

"There is still some small challenges, it is not business as normal, and business are just ensuring they are adhering to all of the COVID rules and regulations."

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