The banquet industry is once more bearing the brunt of the pandemic. Across the country, large-scale events are being shut down to prevent the spread of COVID. That means the weddings are off. Couples and families are missing their big day, and wedding industry professionals are missing their work
A hairdresser styles the customer’s hair. The pandemic has hit the salon’s profits, she says. But even more disappointing is the fact that her wedding has been postponed – again.
Lin Yu-chun
Bride-to-be
We wanted to get married in October, but had to postpone it to this year. In the last few days we realized the pandemic was getting worse again, so we again postponed our wedding from this Sunday. Now we’re going round telling everyone, doing it with their safety in mind.
Pandemic restrictions have gotten tighter all across the country in recent days. Many events have been canceled to prevent large groups gathering, and weddings are no exception. This Keelung bride-to-be has canceled her once-in-a-lifetime banquet.
Lin Yu-chun
Bride-to-be
It was going to be almost 30 tables. We’ll hold off until the government says we can hold weddings normally again.
For the banquet industry, it’s a tsunami of cancellations. Their halls are empty. In booking ledgers, once full seating plans have all been rubbed out. This business owner has had hundreds of tables canceled or deferred.
Chen Shih-hsien
Wedding banquet industry
We’ve had about 500 tables canceled or postponed from bookings in May and June. When the pandemic began last year, we must have had over 1,000 tables canceled, from New Year banquets, group events and weddings.
That’s an awful lot of losses to handle in just one year. The banquet industry is not having an easy pandemic.
