Will CM Yogi’s announcement break the pause mode for the event industry?
Recently, speaking at the launch of ‘Van Mahotsav’ in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a big announcement. The UP CM said that big events and gatherings will be allowed in the state while adhering to COVID-19 protocols.
The event industry has welcomed the announcement as it clearly indicates the gradual revival of events and weddings. At the same time it will test the preparedness of event agencies to handle big events by following the SOPs that they have carefully created while being off the job.
To understand how the event industry is looking at this development, we reached out to some industry experts and here is what they had to say:
Pramod Lunawat, CEO, Millenium Event and Marriageuna- Intoxicating Weddings
It is like a green shoot for our events industry as it will go a long way in depicting the fact that :
(a) Events are essential for social, political and employment reasons
(b) All governments must reconsider their diktat on events
(c) Event professionals must look at this as an opportunity to highlight the level of preparedness in safety to handle large format events
Rituraj Khanna, CEO, Q Events
I got a direct clip from what he announced in Kanpur and as soon as I shared it in all my groupsI saw smiling faces after a long time.
While we are all now gearing up to face the Covid situation, we have designed a new hygiene catalogue which will match our decor style and will be as beautiful looking as what we design.
August is when I am looking at getting back to opening our office and starting with winter wedding meetings. In these past few months we have worked on a lot of new wedding ideas which takes safety and hygiene into consideration.
Ranjit Raina, CEO, Geometry Encompass
The announcement by the UP government is certainly a very promising sign for an industry that has been in pause mode for more than 3 months now. Clear direction from regional and central governments is critical to chart the revival of the industry. It will go a long way in planning a path to the return to normalcy. Of course safety and health concerns should remain paramount in planning.
We need other governments to follow with their position on how they see the local economies unlock. This is essential for the industry to plan the comeback.
Alvin D'Souza, Managing Director, 121XP
With the experiential/events industry sitting dormant for over a hundred days, this decision will mellow out the scenario. It will also provide stakeholders the long awaited freedom to fine tune the formulation of large gatherings to fulfill their motives. This action can serve as a beacon for other states and nations to slowly adapt, evolve and overcome the mass hysteria. In the end we have to find our way around this pandemonium and instead of a stomp, this small stride will prove to be far more salutary.
Navneeth Mohan - Director and CEO, Laqshya Live Experiences
I think it is a welcome move by the UP government. Other states should follow suit immediately and as an industry we are equipped and responsible enough to implement safety protocols. What governments should do is to certify agencies who have protocols in place and this can be standardized across the country - almost like European Union common protocols.
