The organisation’s national CEO, John Hart, said the number of closed businesses across the country was likely to increase tenfold this Easter, with the prediction that popular Adelaide dining strips such as Hutt Street, Norwood Parade and Leigh Street would resemble “ghost towns”.

R&CA estimated that more than a third of popular eateries closed on the recent Adelaide Cup Day.

“The café and restaurant market in South Australia is struggling,” Hart said.

“Softer trading conditions means it’s even harder to break even. Businesses will weigh up the cost of trading on these days and decide it’s just not worth opening the doors.”

Restaurant and Catering SA chief Sally Neville told InDaily she didn’t have a list of Adelaide restaurants that would be closed over Easter this year, but that Hart’s comments were based on a member survey.

“The feedback is that they will close on public holidays because of the pay rates,” she said.

According to the R&CA, wage bills represent around 40 per cent of takings on public holidays.

Victoria has now made Easter Sunday a public holiday, along with Grand Final Friday, and Restaurant & Catering Australia is eager to forestall the introduction of any more public holidays in South Australia.

Neville said hospitality businesses in this state were already struggling with changed pay scales and tough economic conditions.

“Our economy in South Australia is flatter than any other mainland state, so we’ve seen a reduction in [industry] revenues year-on-year in South Australia, which is the antithesis of any other state … that’s putting additional pressure on businesses. It makes trading less and less affordable.”

While a cut in Sunday penalty rates proposed in an Australian Productivity Commission review earlier this year was slammed by unions, Neville said such a move would encourage more restaurants to open.