2020 has given the biggest heartbreak to the highly dynamic and lucrative African wedding market. Africa is feeling mixed emotions of fear and hope since the coronavirus lockdown forced businesses to grind to a halt. And one of Africa’s multibillion-rand sectors – weddings – has been hit hard. But couples and experts have hope – even though this has been one of the most difficult decisions they were forced to make in their big day plans. We got insights from our African wedding community on the current situation and why it’s high time the government across the region should take a deeper look into this market segment.
What’s happening?
Gatherings are banned!
“No weddings are allowed – international borders are closed – inbound & outbound flights are not possible. Small local events are possible – no clear guidelines on numbers. No clarity on the way forward from the governments – 90% of our 2020 projects are postponed.” Shares Christina Holt from Wedding Concepts South Africa
“All gatherings are prohibited. The country is experiencing a peak in infections and we are in lockdown Level 3. We are not allowed to even see our family. Alcohol is banned and we have a curfew. Last Sunday night our president gave a speech that sent shock waves through our industry and as a result, clients started to cancel their bookings. Couples are even starting to ask for refunds and the situation is developing in a very negative way. All international travel in closed, so no destination guests or weddings on the cards. Most of our 2020 couples have postponed their weddings to 2021, but even the beginning of 2021 is starting to look glum. We are very concerned and there is no consideration from our government when it comes to our industry at all. ” Says Eve Poplett from Splendid Wedding Company, SA. Similar sentiments were shared by Nina Buys from Nina Buys Photography and Danelle Stofberg from Danelle Stofberg Photography
“At the moment, we are only allowed to plan events with 20 or fewer guests in attendance.” Adds Adeola Okeshala from 2706 Events, Nigeria
“In Ghana, it’s allowed to host up to 100 guests weddings and other events, usually pre-booked.” Says Bernice Bortey from Petalz and Plannerz
What can be done?
We require an acknowledgment as a niche industry!
“To take our inbound destination wedding industry seriously, listen to us, about how big the industry is, how much it contributes to the tourism sector, and the SME sector. Work with us in partnership and get behind us to promote our industry globally as part of one of Africa’s key attractions. In many countries, governments and tourism authorities don’t know where to position and place the wedding sector. Does it sit as a leisure product or a MICE product, because of this it doesn’t get taken seriously?” Tells Richard Holt from Concepts Collection, SA
Having worked very closely with tourism boards within Africa, Mwai Yeboah, Founder of Love from Mwai shared inside views and tips on the strategies being implemented by the region to bring back confidence in wedding clients. Here’s what she shared:
- Deploying measures for quick recovery
- Measuring up to worldwide safety standards
- Tourism boards and properties conducting an in-depth health SWOT analysis
- Providing financial incentives to tourists and businesses and promotion through mainstream & social media
In addition to the above, she says “these are testing times and this is when we need to work together as a community and put collaboration over competition”. She feels helping one another will be one of the top forces in the effort to get the wedding industry back to normal.
Considering the correlation between the tourism industry and the wedding industry, Eve Poplett from Splendid Wedding Company points out “We need to be considered. Our presence is important and we brought a considerable contribution to national GDP. We are now in a situation where through no fault of our own, we are prevented to operate and became obsolete. Our clients are starting to cancel and unwilling to wait and this means more financial woes for businesses that have not operated since March 2020, and most likely not to operate for the rest of the year. Our situation is two-fold: Deposits received went towards operational costs. Existing clients need to understand that we are unable to repay those as we have been using the funds to stay in business during months we did not operate.No new deposits: New couples are not committing finically to events because we do not know what events can start again. No new clients mean no cash flow into the business. “
“Weddings need to be revived. We can be given limits on how many guests we can have with precautionary measures to abide by.” Emphasizes Adeola Okeshola from 2706 Events, Nigeria
Financial Aid
“I would like a commission to be set up which assists us with legal aid when it comes to dealing with angry clients who want their money back. If we don’t receive financial help and clarity around the proposed re-opening of the events, we are going to have a lot of people without an income and already businesses are closing down. Hospitality had been adversely affected and I cannot see how we can survive without government support. We need to know when we can start operating. We need to start discussing possible dates and strategies for re-opening.” Eve Poplett from Splendid Wedding Company beautifully points out.
“Currently the wedding industry is in free-fall. Weddings (especially destination weddings) are planned well in advance and a complete lack of clarity without roadmap nor timetable from the government is causing massive job losses, businesses to close down at an unprecedented rate and global clients to turn away. If South Africa is going to put itself back on the map and re-position itself globally as a top destination wedding location, the Tourism authorities and wedding industry leaders need to come together to collaborate and communicate messages, activity, and unity to the rest of the world. We need to walk the walk together and collaborate in new ways. ” Sums up Christina Holt from Wedding Concepts South Africa
“Allow weddings and events to take place with strict safety measures in place. In this way, we can control the spread of the virus compared to someone hosting a wedding of 300 people illegally and without any safety precautions in place. As long as weddings and events are banned, people will find a way to do it illegally thus placing all of us at greater risk compared to wedding and event planners taking charge and monitoring this in a safe and controlled environment. Limit the number of guests if they must but allow us to operate again.” Adds Ishrat Joosub from Outlandish Events, South Africa
Feature Image Credit: @felixcrown
