Musicals, photo shootings, buzzing of attendees dressed in their best and serving luscious dishes -- this used to be the ambiance of their business. Gone are the eventful days of event managers.
Myriad event-management companies and subsidiary services spanning over many other sectors pay dearly for the pandemic corona as the owners look on with shutters down or half-open and employees jobless.
Corporate functions, trade shows, junkets and the like still stay suppressed under social-distancing decrees prompted by a hangover of the global epidemic here in Bangladesh and across the planet for a long time now.
Sources in the business circles say the event-management service sector coalesced with the country's economic growth along with international trade expansion -- to a Tk 30 billion worth of industry itself at the minimum.
It had a potential to grow at a good pace, but the covid-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus dealt a blow below the belt in 2020 as it upended normal order everywhere.
The world begins to reopen now, so does Bangladesh, with the transmission of the virus taking a downturn and prolonged lockdowns lifted for life and business to run in new normal.
All are opening now but not social gatherings as the vicious coronavirus hangs over. So the event managers have little job to do -- and they seek government intervention to find ways for a turnaround as a renascent industry, with access to stimulus packages and right to function with business-to-business (B2B) interaction with foreign businesses.
A close look reveals that these businesses depended on various events, both corporate and social. They are now crippled with an acute financial crisis as major programmes and public gatherings remained almost stalled since March 2020 when the pandemic spread to the country.
Ill luck also struck a large number of allied services to the event-management businesses, including logistics, catering, decors, photography, printing, entertainers, and transports, to name a few.
Though large event-management companies somehow managed to survive with their capital while small ones are on the verge of going bust, industry-insiders said.
There are over 300 large and small organisations having a market size of Tk 25 billion-Tk 30 billion at the minimum, creating direct and indirect employment for around 0.5 million people, they said.
A number of prescheduled events had to be cancelled last year under a blowback from the pandemic, aggravating their financial loss in business operations, they added.
Due to the prolonged pandemic, no major corporate events such as trade shows, expositions, fairs of leather, apparel, and plastic sectors took place during the last one and half years in compliance with restrictions imposed by the government on the social gathering.
A large number of people lost their jobs or were furloughed while some faced salary cuts in event-management companies.
"Our office is completely closed now since we cannot announce any upcoming event, as well as execute preparatory activities ahead of it," said Tipu Sultan Bhuiyan, Managing Director of ASK Trade & Exhibitions Pvt Ltd Bangladesh.
Almost all of the operations have halted virtually since it is totally uncertain when the overall situation favours organising any corporate event, he said, on a note of frustration.
The company organises six large trade shows in Bangladesh to promote various local industries, including apparel, leather, and printing sectors, annually. Of those, only one expo could take place in January last year, and none this year so far.
"There's good enquiry from our exhibitors but with no permission forthcoming; it has kept us completely uncertain on all fronts, including money for salaries of our employees," said Mr Bhuiyan.
Acknowledging job cuts in his firm, he said the company continued to pay salary for many months in 2020 despite having no earning.
"Usually, an event-management company generates several times more employment opportunities than its own staffs," he said, pointing at the allied services.
According to sources, after 2000, professional event organisers started drawing huge attention in tune with the economic development of the country that strives for graduation from its poor-country status or LDC.
There are basically two streams of event management. One consists of corporate programmes like AGM, trade show, product launching, seminar, and market activation. The other comprises social programmes like wedding, birthday, concert, get-together, and their likes.
The sector had grown at an around 15 percent annualised rate for the then recent years up till the virus outbreak.
Though some corporates ran awareness-raising campaigns and other activities on a limited scale during the days of restrictions imposed by the government, those were not enough for survival of an even-management company, said an experienced professional in the field.
"Event-management sector is definitely one of the worst victims of the ongoing pandemic," said Rasel Ali Mondol, senior manager of Images Experiential Marketing Ltd (IEML), a company specialised in corporate events and market activation.
He said a number of event-management companies had to quit the sector already, as it is still uncertain when everything will come back to the usual situation like in pre-pandemic period though everything has resumed in recent times following a letup.
"I know many friends from other companies who couldn't sustain their jobs as it was not possible for employers to continue without earnings," he said.
The IEML had to shift its office from the posh area of Gulshan to its parent organisation Image Group's headquarters located in Tejgaon in a desperate bid to survive, said Mr Mondol, giving an example of moves for survival.
Md. Shakhawat Hossain, Managing Director and CEO of Bangladesh Exhibitions Pvt Ltd, said despite preparations, event-management companies altogether had to cancel over a hundred trade shows and matchmaking platforms for local and international business entities in the early 2020.
"Budding entrepreneurs like me are the worst victim as the pandemic appeared for us as a bolt from the blue," he said, adding that he had to bear the office expenses despite having no income from the business during the pandemic.
Unlike many other businesses, event-organising firms cannot get back on track as a programme needs a long period, planning, communications and coordination to make it a success, he added.
Responding to a query he said despite contribution to the economy through earning foreign currency, they did not get any financial support from the stimulus packages launched by the government for corona recovery.
A professional photographer, Sheikh Sohel, said in his over a decade-long career he didn't witness such dullness.
"There is now very limited number of events -- either corporate or social -- who look for photography and related services," he said and added that the payments have also decreased to almost one-third of that in regular period.
The few social events that take place during non-lockdown period, take place with minimum number of guests and very tight schedule, creating challenges for them to capture the moments in photography with ease.
Highlighting the role of major trade-show organisers to the country's economy, ASK Trade's Mr Bhuiyan said the government should allow organising international business-to-business (B2B) tradeshows and thus help local industry adapt to newer technologies.
Besides, some concessions in hall rentals or subsidy should be provided to the exhibition organizers and cut-down rents for venues, he added.
