Nagpur: Don’t expect a flurry of monsoon weddings at hotels and lawns across the district even after the unlocking orders, because banquet hall and lawn owners say the guest restriction of 100 is financially unviable.
Apart from this, the ‘auspicious dates’ window is due to end in mid-June and the proverbial final nail in the coffin will be the onset of monsoons which play spoilsport for open-air events.
Technically, all banquet halls and lawns can operate at full capacity under level one of the unlocking guidelines which is a huge respite to the severely-hit wedding celebrations industry.Dilip Kamdar, director of Naveidhyam Hospitality, which manages a couple of banquet halls, said, “June 15 is the last day for ‘auspicious’ dates, so there will be a massive fall in the number of weddings.
With just 100 people being allowed, it will be very difficult for all stakeholders to manage as fixed expenses remain the same.”Nitin Gopalani, director of Ramesons Hotel, said the weather for the next two months is not favourable for their business.
“Large guest bookings are usually done for open lawns but no one will risk it with monsoons just round the corner.
So one section (lawns) of the hotels is already out of contention for any business.
And we can’t even cover the area up with some temporary shed because then it’s counted as a banquet hall,” said Gopalani.Vinod Kanakdande, secretary of Nagpur Halls and Lawns’ Association, said while the government’s decision to unlock is welcome, it has come pretty late in the day.
Kanakdande said, “Frankly, this year’s wedding season is gone and so, for us the government’s decision has come too late in the day.
The benefits of this decision will be visible only from September onwards when monsoons recede and the wedding season again starts to come back.
Our lawn owner members hardly do any business during monsoon so now they have to hold on for a few more months.
The worst part is that there will always be anxiety that after three months of unlocking, we might again see restrictions being put.”At the same time, hospitality industry can’t afford to outright refuse any booking.
Micky Arora, director of Hotel Centre Point said “For the last one year the hospitality industry has suffered the most, so the point of view will be that ‘something is better than nothing’.
Many weddings had been put on hold due to the restrictions since March and auspicious dates are running out fast.
So they will obviously try to get over the ceremony, with reduced guests, as early as possible.
And our industry does take all safety measures, hence I am confident that from the current 100 we will be bumped up to 200 or so soon.”