Banquets’ coffers empty as many cancel weddings

Ranchi: With scores of families postponing marriage ceremonies due to Covid-19 pandemic, banquet owners have suffered heavy losses this season. Notably, there was heavy booking of banquet halls at the beginning of the year when Covid pandemic had slowed down. The banquet hall owners were hoping for a profit after a gap of almost a year. However, as cases shot up in the wake of second wave, many have started postponing their marriage functions.
Vishwajit Paul of Hotel Palk Street said, “After the hotel business, the banquet hall trade has been badly hit due to Covid-19. All bookings of my banquet hall have been postponed. People have cancelled their bookings for various reasons. Some cited Covid as the cause while other said that they would like their function to be a grand occasion which is not possible under the current restrictions imposed by the government. Several families were facing travelling bottlenecks.”
Asked about the future of the trade, Paul said that everything depends on the Covid situation. He added that, at present, the most important factor was to save oneself and one’s family members.
Notably, several other hotels including Royal Retreat also reported near total cancellation of the booking for marriages.
Sudhir Chopra of Yuvraj Palace said that 80% of bookings at his banquet hall was cancelled due to Covid since April. He added that even though the government has fixed an upper limit of 50 guests for weddings, the actual number of guests being invited to marriages was even less. Chopra said, “The banquet business is in a very bad shape for the past one year not only in Ranchi but also all over the country.”