Wedding venue businesses are still reeling from the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic and remains completely shut down.

The wedding venue sector is still classified as the most affected sector a year after the first recorded COVID-19 case in the Kingdom due to the closure and suspension of all economic activities.

The sector’s capital is estimated at JD1 billion and the losses have exceeded JD200 million, according to investors in the sector.

"Our sector is a stricken sector. There is a total collapse and there are many halls that have closed as a result of their inability to pay their obligations. So far, there are 37 halls that are completely closed,” Momen Manaseer, an investor in the sector, told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

The owners of venues are demanding rents and the government is pursuing taxes and the payment of licence fees, fully knowing that the wedding venue sector has been shut down for a year, Manaseer said.

"Hundreds of wedding venue business owners today are facing lawsuits, and others stopped operating as they failed to meet their financial obligations to banks. We have paid the licence fees and fines for the year 2020, despite the closures. And now we are also required to obtain licences for this year, and we will be fined if we fail to do that,” Manaseer said.

Manaseer noted that the government has not provided the sector with any exemptions or aid since the beginning of the pandemic. Despite numerous attempts and the presentation of a health protocol within certain conditions, the government has not looked into it, he added.

"As part of the health protocol that we presented, we proposed the presence of sterilisers, specified the number of attendees, and demanded the presence of a health monitor in every celebration to ensure compliance with health measures and defence orders,” Manaseer added.

"The government has closed this licensed and regulated sector that they can control, and has not closed the farms and hotels where celebrations are held in large numbers and in violation of defence orders,” Manaseer said.

The workers in this sector had no income for the past year and most the workers are daily wagers, Ismaeel Al Azzeh, executive director at a local wedding venue and a freelance wedding planner, told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

There is a plan to develop a smart app concerned with everything related to the event management sector and its employees, Azzeh said. 

"The application will be under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour and will be presented to the rest of the ministries upon completion of the feasibility study,” he said.

According to Manaseer, the sector representatives have agreed with the Amman Chamber of Commerce to hand over all the facilities under their authorisation to the government on March 17, "so that the government bears full responsibility for this sector”. 

"This will be a message that we cannot spend on our facilities, and the government must take over,” Manaseer said

He called on the government to issue a defence order for the sector to regulate lease contracts and exempt it from fees and taxes during the virus crisis, in addition to urging banks to introduce a moratorium on the sector’s loans until the resumption of business activities.