Local wedding venue industry in dire straits, say stakeholders

AMMAN — The local wedding venues industry is facing harsh challenges in rapid succession, according to stakeholders.

“The sector is struggling to keep up, and is increasingly bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Things just did not go back to normal,” said Mamun Al Manaseer, head of the Wedding Venues and Planning Businesses Association.

Figures from the Wedding Venues and Planning Businesses Association showed that over 100 venues and halls have permanently closed over the past three years.

Many businesses operating in the industry are in critical financial distress due to significant declines in bookings and reservations, Manaseer told The Jordan Times.

 “Way before Ramadan started, wedding reservations did not exceed 25 per cent of the venues’ capacities,” he said.

Manaseer called on the government to support the industry and regulate the emerging farm weddings industry in order to ensure business continuity and recovery within the sector.

“Despite the fact that summer is approaching, business is not coming back, and our revenues have dropped by at least 40 to 45 per cent,” Mahmoud Zakaria, the manager of a wedding venue in Zarqa, told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

Before and during Ramadan, Zakaria’s venue offered discounts on various wedding packages to garner higher customer demand. “However, the situation remained the same,” he said, attributing the stagnation in the sector to the wide diversity and availability of venue options.