Card parties, Diwali bashes, catering, banquets see biggest slump in business this festive season | Economic Times

New Delhi: The chips are down for catering and banquet companies this year. With card parties and Diwali bashes scaled down, they face the steepest fall in business in the October-December quarter, a season that’s synonymous with weddings, celebrations and conferences, industry executives said.“Social-distancing norms, post-lockdown restrictions on the number of people allowed in gatherings and a drastic reduction in international delegations have led to the slump in business, which is down by about 70% year-on-year,” said Pranay Bahl, director at Embassy Catering, one of north India’s biggest hospitality and catering services companies.Most Diwali and seasonal parties have been cancelled entirely and many wedding functions have shifted online, Bahl said.“All this has had a cascading impact on the entire hospitality economy,” he said.Many states have restricted social gatherings to 200 people. Some including Maharashtra are stricter and have capped that number at 50, leading to large-scale cancellations during the party season.Lalit Jain, spokesperson of the Bombay Caterers Association, which has 450 registered members and is associated with 5,000 caterers, said: “Business in Mumbai for events and parties is not even 5% in terms of revenue. The number of events would have reduced by 60%. The scale of weddings has reduced drastically and Diwali and housewarming parties are not happening.”In addition to Covid-19-induced protocols, the party season this time has been impacted by the absence of international delegations and board meetings, which were integral drivers for the hospitality sector.Tanuja Pandey, founder of MICE ONLINE, an aggregator platform that puts organisers of events such as meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) in touch with hotels, said companies are reducing group sizes from 300-400 people.“Hotels with bigger ballrooms and inventory have started getting queries through MICE ONLINE for groups but in smaller numbers. Events are hybrid – online as well as offline,” Pandey said.Queries have gone down significantly from last year’s levels, she said.Wedding ceremonies and functions have been curtailed. Three-fourths of Indians said that while they would go ahead with the ceremonies, they would hire fewer vendors for food, alcohol, flowers, decor and other arrangements, according to a survey by The Knot Worldwide, a global wedding planning and technology company.“Live streaming and socially distant gatherings of friends and family or mini-ceremonies with only immediate family are some of the measures that are being adopted,” said Ankur Sarawagi, India country head of The Knot Worldwide.The report said 80% of the respondents would encourage social distancing and invite only immediate family and close friends.Executives said the hospitality sector has made substantial changes in operations with regular sanitisation, daily temperature checks and weekly Covid-19 tests for employees. Clients can also see kitchens virtually. Still, such measures may not be enough to keep business ticking.“With restrictions on the number of people and apprehensions about social gatherings, there has been a tremendous drop in parties this season,” said Sammir Gogia, founder of SALTT Catering, a premium hospitality and catering company.A large, Gurgaon-based multinational company has called off its annual board meeting that was scheduled in November a year in advance with two dozen overseas guests.“The board meet had been timed to coincide with the Indian festive season. Now it has moved online and all after-work parties and sightseeing we had planned have been cancelled,” a senior company official said, asking not to be identified.Recovering costs is out of the question and the quarter will be a write-off since events are not necessities, executives said.Sonia Malhotra, managing director at BBLOOM.Online, a floral gifting, decor and events company, said: “Events in general, be it outdoors, indoors or even customised floral or gift deliveries have been terribly impacted this season. We have had to really struggle to survive through this phase and stay afloat.”Malhotra said even if customers seek services, they want cheaper rates.“Our industry is not need-based but luxury-based and it will take a while before business normalises. So in that sense, market trends don’t really resonate with our industry. Our businesses will pick up once the luxury sector revives and buying begins. That seems a long way off at the moment,” she said.