Rosevears Hotel, like many hospitality businesses, were shut down for about three months during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they lost several good staff.

Mr Virieux said staff were anxious to get home before the borders closed on them for good, which was understandable at the time, but was challenging.

However, the sun started to shine again on Rosevears when they were able to reopen, and that came in the form of Tasmanian locals.

"The Tasmanians have been brilliant, they have supported us so much, we wouldn't have made it through without them," Mr Virieux said.

"They kept us all alive."

While Rosevears was shut down, Mr Virieux didn't rest on his laurels, undertaking extensive renovations to move the public bar to the front of the hotel and starting work on a bakery complex out the back.

The bakery is still underway, but the bar has been opened to the public and is tracking in a steady trickle of tourists.

He said thanks to the support of the JobKeeper supplement he was able to keep his staff in jobs and was now in a position to give back.

"We have since employed about six or seven people, two of those under the apprentice scheme," he said.

Rosevears has also started plans to host a summer events series, but the planning is still in its early stages.

Mr Virieux hoped to host outdoor events on the grass at the hotel, in line with COVID restrictions.

"We are finding that we're still turning people away from the bar, because of COVID restrictions," he said.

So they hope to circumvent that a bit, in a safe way, by hosting outdoor events.