Hotels, wedding venues booked for next 3 months in Pune

PUNE: Hotels, banquets and marriage halls in the city are fully booked for the next three months as those who had postponed their weddings last year owing to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions are holding their nuptial celebrations this year.
Amit Badula, director of events, Conrad Pune, said, “In 220, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many restrictions had been imposed by the government and a lot of guests did not want to go ahead with celebrations in such conditions.But now all these guests have booked the property for their events in the second half of 2021. Hence, there is surplus demand in the wedding segment for hospitality industry.”
Gauri Kanitkar, CEO, Anuroop Wiwaha Sanstha, is looking forward to recovering the financial losses of 2020 from this year’s wedding season. “The mood for celebration is back among clients, who are ready to go all out for weddings like they used to before the pandemic. Though they are spending less on catering as guest lists have to be restricted to 50% of capacity of the wedding venue, they spend more on decoration, entertainment,” she said.
Rounak Sethi, founder, wedding event management company, said, “Business recovery is at 70-80 per cent as of now. Until the pandemic is completely over, and there are no restrictions on the number of guests allowed, there will not be 100 per cent recovery of business.”
Rashmi Shah, co-founder of a catering business, said, “With fewer number of guests allowed, the total income from a wedding event is less by 50 per cent. But clients are willing to have elaborate spreads, and don’t mind the increase in rates per plate/person. Last year, though weddings were organised with 20-50 guests, clients preferred per-plate buffets and did not opt for stalls and live stations for chaat, pasta, and so on. This year there has been a rise in clients requesting for such stalls and live stations, while ensuring that we take all safety precautions “
Mudassir Shaikh, who runs a sound system rental, said that business has not picked up much for him. “Even with the relaxations in restrictions, people don’t want to attract too much attention to their celebrations. We hardly have bookings now but hope for business to pick up in December.”