Residents, banquet hall owners in a fix over late weddings, reservations

The imposition of night curfew in the state upset the wedding plans of many in the city, with owners of banquet halls and hotels saying customers started calling them on Tuesday asking for changes in timings, schedules and seeking postponement of reservations

The imposition of night curfew in the state upset the wedding plans of many in the city, with owners of banquet halls and hotels saying customers started calling them on Tuesday asking for changes in timings, schedules and seeking postponement of reservations. Hoteliers said that the night curfew will impact a majority of them as wedding ceremonies during the summer generally take place late evening or at night.

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According to tent owners and hotel owners’ associations, there are around 200 hotels and banquets halls in Gurugram district and 2,000 such facilities across the state, where reservations were made for dates between April 22 and May 20, considered an auspicious period for weddings as per religious calendars.

“We have worked out that around 2,000 wedding events across Haryana will get impacted. We have very few wedding destination hotels. Revenue of around ₹3,000 crore that would have been generated will get hit. The hotel owners will make losses but suppliers and vendors might go out of business this year,” said Manbeer Choudhary, president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Haryana.

Business owners said that due to the imposition of a night curfew in Delhi and Noida, a number of such functions had shifted to Gurugram but this business will also get affected now. Another main reason for this shift was that 500 people are allowed in open spaces and 200 in a closed space at weddings in the city, while the cap is at 50 in Delhi.

The Haryana government on Monday evening imposed a night curfew between 9pm and 5pm to curtail the spread of Covid-19 infections. The state government on Tuesday evening changed the night curfew timing, stating it would start from 10pm. However, hoteliers said this would be of little help.

The hotel owners’ association has sought an audience with the chief minister and is hoping to get some relief in the matter, he said. “The shift in timings by an hour is a positive move, but guests and hotel workers should be exempted from the curfew,” Choudhary said.

The Haryana Tent Dealers Association, meanwhile, said it submitted representations to the government seeking relaxation in timings. “Livelihood of thousands of people will get affected if the marriages are curtailed as so many people are involved in making these functions happen. Not only that, people have paid money to book hotels and tents and cancelling functions is not feasible,” said Anil Rao, president, Haryana Tent Dealers Association.

Hoteliers and banquet hall owners said that customers were starting to worry about a lockdown-like situation soon.

Virender Rana, a resident of Faridabad, whose cousin is getting married on April 20, booked a hotel in Karnal for the wedding and the families of the bride and the groom were to arrive from Roorkee and Faridabad, respectively. “A majority of our relatives were to come from Faridabad and Delhi and return at night, but now, they have expressed their inability to attend. A family from the Netherlands came especially for the wedding, but is now in two minds due to the night curfew,” said Rana.

Rana said that the Haryana government should at least give them time till midnight for people to make the return trip. “Only 150 people have been invited, while the banquet hall is meant for 400 people. We are going to follow Covid safeguards,” he said.

Another family in Gurugram, which has a wedding scheduled for April 25, shifted the venue from Delhi to Gurugram because of Covid-19 restrictions. “At least people going to weddings should be allowed to move in the night. We are trying to adjust but in the summer season, the function starts at 9pm. This curfew has dampened the spirits. The government must relax the timings,” said Ramesh Dahiya, whose niece is getting married.