The Events and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA), a national apex body of events and experiential the marketing industry, released a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) here today at Hotel JW Marriott Chandigarh.
Punjab's Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, formally released the EEMA's SOPs for the events and entertainment industry and hoped that despite the challenges of COVID19, industry and trade must restore their operations while maintaining health safety. He commended EEMA for compiling the SOPs for the industry which shall be highly useful for everyone.
He said that he shall also be requesting the Punjab Chief Minister to increase the numbers for social and corporate gatherings.
Ankur Kalra, a founder member of EEMA, appreciated the Government's decision to open up the event industry allowing the gathering of a maximum of 100 people for social, religious, cultural, and corporate events in most parts of the country under Unlock 4.0.
The SOPs are for the event organisers and other stakeholders including hotels to ensure complete safety of the guests, which in fact can be used by any organization, informed Vijay Arora.
Earlier, the local representatives of EEMA presented a copy of the 300-page document to Punjab's Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, who hoped that events conducted under strict supervision as per the health guidelines shall ensure the safety of organisers and the guests.
Ankur Kalra said that the availability of SOPs to the industry shall help ease the operations and open up the economy, instil confidence amongst the organisers as well as the public, giving a fillip to this Rs.5 lakh crore industry that employs over 10 million people, who were worse affected during the lockdown.
In a statement released from Delhi, Roshan Abbas, President, EEMA said, "EEMA is in conversation with local administrative bodies to see if rules can be further relaxed post the 21st given that they are working with extensive safety protocols." He also added, "Though we had approached the Govt. to open events with a ceiling of 200 people, but we welcome the Government's decision and look forward to conducting events with all necessary precautions."
Punjab Chapter Chairman of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Karan Girhotra hoped that this move to open up the event industry shall definitely help the economy in the region.
Ankur Kalra, the founder member of EEMA from Delhi conducted the 'Safe Events' Workshop enabling industry stakeholders to get more information and details towards better event planning conforming to international health safety procedures under Covid19.
A simulated corporate event titled "India is an Event: We're ready for Safe Events" was also held in the evening for invited guests, event organisers and other industry leaders and government representatives to experience its efficacy.
EEMA envisages this event to build more confidence in the local Govt. stakeholders and surely fuel their thoughts to increase the limited to a more sustainable one in term of management and at the same time commercial viability for organizers to revive and re-surge again.
Marriott Bonvoy partnered with EEMA as the Hospitality partner by providing venues for this multicity event and ensured all protocols were being followed as per EEMA's safety guidelines.
One of the region's biggest wedding planner, Tony Singh, hoped that the same zeal and zest that Punjabis represent during their social and wedding events, would return to herald the prosperity in this region.
Another well-known name in corporate events and advertising field Shaleen Kapoor said that the return of the business gathering would help businesses of all sizes to the network again and revive their closed enterprises through collaboration in this region.
Hardeep Singh, another leader in the trade fairs domain felt that there is a greater need to have more and more exhibitions where businesses and trade can find opportunities to grow.
The evening saw many prominent government and industry representatives participating, where strict compliance of COVID health norms as per EEMA's SOPs were followed including checking of 'Aarogya Setu' app, wearing of masks, maintaining physical distance, etc, with adequate signage and digital messaging, were put on display for the guidance of the guests.
The entire hotel staff delegated for the event had also been certified and verified by EEMA's experts who were also initially trained, besides the usage of food-grade sanitizers and disinfectants.
Shampa Dhali, Area Director National Sales, India, "Marriott welcomes EEMA's initiative in support of safe events SOPs unveiled for the industry. This is aligned to Marriott International's commitment to clean global program as we welcome our guest back to our hotels around the world and committed to providing them with a safe environment that aligns with expert protocols on safety and hygiene. Our collaboration with EMMA on Safe Events campaign reflects our commitment to evolve our solutions to ensure a continued focus on the health and safety of our guests and associates when hosting an Event."
Present on the occasion were EEMA's local representatives Binay Pal Singh, Bharat Dhiman, Daman Preet Singh, Vikramjit Singh, Angat Walia & Deepak Kumar besides representatives of the hospitality and tourism industry.
About EEMA:
Founded in 2008, The Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) (eemaindia.com/) is an autonomous and non-profit registered body of companies, institutions and professionals operating within the Events and Experiential Marketing industry of India. EEMA is the first and only body of its kind, which seeks to bring together the country's leading Event Management, Sports Management and Brand Activation companies, MICE and Wedding Planners, Experiential Marketers, Entertainment Professionals, Artist Management Companies and International counterparts on the same platform. The Industry has grown exponentially over the last two decades with over 1000 entities operating in this space, in various segments and levels across 100+ cities in India.
About Marriott International –
Marriott International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAR) is based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and encompasses a portfolio of more than 7,400 properties under 30 leading brands spanning 135 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts all around the world. The company offers Marriott Bonvoy™, its highly-awarded travel program. For more information, please visit our website at www.marriott.com, and for the latest company news, visit www.marriottnewscenter.com. In addition, connect with us on Facebook and @MarriottIntl on Twitter and Instagram.
C J Singh, M: 093161 33924 / corepr@gmail.com
