KOCHI: With November and December 2021 witnessing a good business, the wedding and event management industry was expecting January-February 2022 to be a fruitful season and make up for the losses caused by the pandemic during the previous years. However, thanks to the new Omicron variant, rising Covid cases and the related-restriction, the industry is staring at a bleak future yet again.
Many of the wedding and event management companies in the state incurred huge losses during the previous years with lockdowns and limitations on the number of people during the first and second waves of the pandemic. This also affected the livelihood of over 75,000 people who were engaged with the industry, which includes wedding planners, stage decorators, caterers, sound and light technicians, anchors, videographers, photographers and others in the allied sectors. Not just the permanent workers, many students and women doing part-time jobs were dependent on the sector.
Though those involved in the sector were expecting faster momentum this year and were expecting 50% higher business this year, cancellation/postponement of events has dashed all their hopes of a good season.
Anwar Pallikkal, president of the Confederation of Event and Entertainment Management (CEEM), Kerala, says, “We are back to a situation similar to that of the first wave of the pandemic when strict restrictions had been imposed including on the number of people attending events. Since the government has imposed restrictions on public gatherings, around 50% of events such as weddings and conferences have been either cancelled or postponed. In the previous years, we incurred a loss of around Rs 500 crore due to mass cancellations and postponements. If restrictions are not relaxed, we are sure to incur a loss of more than Rs 10 crore in the first two months of this year.”
Talking about the setbacks faced by the industry, Anwar says, “We had listed our demands to be placed on the report prepared by the planning board of the tourism department last year. We had requested the department to carry out a study on the sectors that are likely to be the worst-affected when such restrictions were imposed in the state. A proposal was also made to decide on the number of guests depending on the space of the venue. However, none of those were considered.”
Event managers highlight that despite January and February being the peak wedding season, there are hardly any events this time. “As the lockdown has been reimposed on Sundays since mid-January this year, many events slated to be held this month have either been cancelled or postponed. Around four weddings planned to be held during the last week of January had to be completely cancelled. Even destination weddings had to be postponed. Though 70% of preparations have been completed, last-minute cancellations and postponements have led to a huge loss,” says Kishore G Das of Eve Experience, an event management company.
Kishore, who is also the secretary of the Kerala Event Management Association (KEMA), says not just the restrictions have led to cancellations or postponements of the events but also the increase in spread of the infection.
“Many weddings had to be cancelled or postponed due to the brides and grooms testing positive. But, our concern is the negligence shown by the government towards the sector,” he added.
Uncertainty has gripped the wedding and event management industry and the big fat weddings have become a small family affair with a limited number of guests.
“We have no hope left this season and the situation is more grim than previous years. Not just the weddings, events such as dealers’ meet lined up for this month have also been cancelled. Even two big conferences which were planned for an amount of Rs 25 lakh had to be held virtually at an amount of just Rs 2 lakh. Unlike the pre-pandemic times, an additional cost of Rs 4,000 has to be borne for sanitising expenses and making masks available at the venue,” said Noufal A M, president of KEMA and owner of ANM events. Noufal has been in the industry for 25 years.
Restrictions on public gatherings have also left the catering industry which plays a major role in the event management industry in tatters.
According to members of the All Kerala Caterers Association (AKCA), nearly 4,000 catering agencies, both large and small, are functioning in the state. Most of the catering agencies are worried if the restrictions on public gatherings continue, it will be difficult for the sector to stay afloat this year.
“We have hardly any orders now as the number of guests has been limited. Once the lent season begins from February last week, we won’t be able to pay our staff if we don’t get orders. Some catering companies have even been wiped out of the sector due to the financial crisis and the existing companies are struggling to meet the expenses,” said K P Cherian of KPS Outdoor catering, who is also a member of the Ernakulam AKCA.
Grim picture