Mr Waterson urged the NSW government to ease capacity restrictions for venues even more, saying Bungalow8 had capacity for 1620 people but capped its numbers at 647, while Cargo Bar could take 1280 revellers but limits guests to 650.

“With JobKeeper coming to an end, and with so much pent-up demand in the hospitality industry generally, easing capacity restrictions at venues is the sensible next step to turbo-charge a rebound that’s already underway in a really important part of the economy,” Mr Waterson said.

Other major hospitality bosses including Merivale owner Justin Hemmes have previously told The Sun-Herald the capacity restrictions should be loosened.

Meanwhile, data shows more than 700,000 people have applied for the government’s $25 vouchers to spend on dining and entertainment, despite Labor’s arguing the scheme has been too slow and “an absolute farce”.

The customer service department said 70,406 people from the northern beaches had applied for the vouchers followed by the Central Coast (57,185), Wollongong (43,319) and Lake Macquarie (41,839).

The City of Sydney had the fifth highest take-up, with 34,987 residents asking for vouchers. In Blacktown, 18,980 people have signed up for the vouchers, two of which may be spent on dining and another two on entertainment and recreation activities.

The $500 million voucher program is designed to boost the economy by giving every adult four $25 vouchers to spend on dining and entertainment until June 30.

But Labor’s treasury spokesman Walt Secord said it had been too slow to start. “This program has been announced, revised, re-shaped and re-announced so many times that it has become confusing,” he said.

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello defended the scheme, saying now was the right time to ramp it up. “The ideal time to support industry is with JobKeeper coming to the end,” he said.

Mr Waterson said his company’s venues were registered for the state government’s $25 voucher scheme, with about $2000 worth of vouchers redeemed. “[But] it’s not having a massive impact on the number of people to venues - demand is strong irrespective,” he said.