Weddings boost Dhaka community centres’ business as Covid eases

The community centres in the capital underwent an unprecedented crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, but their business is picking up again, thanks to a significant increase in bookings for social events, especially wedding ceremonies.

A number of such establishments told The Business Post their business is slowly recovering now as the pandemic restrictions have been eased, and their average monthly bookings for events went up from around 15 this September to more than 20 in October.

Bookings increased as Covid-19 infection and death tolls gradually went down across the country, industry insiders said, adding that most weddings usually take place during the winter – which is also giving their businesses a boost.

Manager of White Hall Convention Centre, one of the popular establishments in Dhaka, Samim Hossain Tuhin said, “Covid-19 had severely disrupted our business. But the pandemic situation is improving now, and the number of people hosting wedding ceremonies at community centres has gone up too.

“When an event is hosted here, we follow all required health safety guidelines, including mandatory mask mandates, social distancing, and using hand sanitisers. We are not charging any extra fees for these services. We are now receiving a large number of calls every day.”

Echoing the same, Executive Marketing Officer at Retired Armed Forces Officer’s Welfare Association (Raowa) Reayadul Islam said, “A few months ago, people were afraid to organise a get-together with their families and friends, but the situation has changed gradually.

“We are getting good business from bookings for wedding ceremonies. A lot of people are calling every day to book our venue.”

Reayadul continued, “We gave out special offers and packages to attract customers till September this year. But we are now charging the regular rate for our services. A list of charges and the booking calendar is available on our website.”

Manager at Setara Convention Hall and Catering Services in Pallabi Mohammad Mosharof said, “We are recovering from losses suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the overall situation is getting better day by day.

“However, people have become more conservative with their money centring social events as the pandemic has put pressure on almost everyone’s pocket. More weddings take place in the winter. So we are optimistic that our business will continue to go up in the coming days.”

Industry insiders added that the community centres are getting bookings from other types of social events, such as birthday parties and anniversaries, too as people are getting back to their lives under the new normal guidelines.

This increase in the community centre business has been a boon to a significant number of people who make a living by providing wedding-related services – such as designing stages or taking photos.

Commenting on this, Customer Service Executive at Dhaka Event Planner Rezaul Islam Khan Raihan said, “We provide our services to arrange weddings, birthdays, seminars, conferences, trade shows, cultural events, and many other programmes.

“We are getting a lot of response from customers in the recent months, and they are now more willing to host social events at community centres after the Covid-19 situation eased in the country.”

Sector people said there are around 4,000 community centres in the country and 500 of them are operating in the capital.