Event organisers feel pinch of political turmoil

Event management companies are counting huge financial losses due to the ongoing political turmoil, industry insiders said.
According to them, most of the event management service providers are passing time almost idly as people are either postponing their scheduled programmes or refraining from organising events due to the ongoing political impasse.
The Event Management Association of Bangladesh (EMAB), an organisation of more than 150 event management companies, is playing a vital role in arranging several programmes, including wedding ceremony, birthday party programme,  marriage anniversary, event management employees' meetings and set design.
The EMAB data showed that the annual business turnover of the event management is estimated at Tk 15 billion, of which they earn around Tk 7.0 billion during the winter season.
"Our event management business has incurred a huge loss since the beginning of the current calendar year due to the countrywide blockade and hartals called by the BNP-led 20-party alliance," Swapan Chowdhury, president of the EMAB, told the FE.
He said the event management service providers are passing time almost idly as the people are postponing most of the events for political instability in the country.
Mr. Chowdhury said the winter (November-February) is the peak season for the event management as 60 per cent of the businesses are done during the period.
But the sector's business dropped to more than 80 per cent in last one and a half months as transaction dropped by Tk 3.5 billion during the period, he said, adding that most of the companies are counting huge losses as they cannot cope with operating costs.
There are more than 1,000 big community centres across the countries including 250 in Dhaka city and 60 in Chittagong city which are now facing enormous problems, he said.
Mr. Chowdhury, also chairman of Antar Showbiz, said their company usually arranges celebrity shows, live shows and concerts, festival management, event management, celebrity and artiste management, corporate shows, product launching and branding, fashion show and road show locally, but they couldn't arrange any programme in last two months.
Kazi Wahidul Alam, Chairman and Managing Director of Triune Exhibition and Event Management services Ltd, said their company used to arrange several programmes, including conference, exhibition, seminar and annual meetings every week, but it could not arrange any events in last two months.
Their company has more than 50 staff, he said, adding that they are getting salary without any work, resulting in a huge loss every month.
Mainur Hossain Nehad, managing director of BD Event Management, said in last 45 days, more than 25 events have been postponed or cancelled due to political instability.
"We arrange at least five events, including company meeting and marriage ceremony a week, but in last 45 days, we could arrange only five programmes."
An official of Amantran Community Centre located at Mirpur in the city said every month they get 20 to 25 bookings, but they could arrange only six programmes in last 45 days as most of the clients are cancelling their bookings.
An official of Shohag Community Centre said they suffered a huge loss as they had to cancel more than 28 programmes in last 45 days.
They usually arrange wedding, birthday, marriage day, get-together and reunion functions, but now most of the programmes are cancelled due to political unrest, he added.
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