Durban - Exclusive venues for office Christmas parties stand to lose thousands of rand as many companies are giving year-end celebrations a miss due to economic strains and safety concerns brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a survey conducted by Glassdoor, an international recruitment company, three out of five companies will not be throwing year-end functions and majority of employees surveyed said they feared contracting the virus therefore were not interested in office parties.
Known for splurging on their annual themed office Christmas parties and despite a solid performance over the lockdown period, Multichoice would be putting safety first and skipping the office celebrations.
Benedict Maaga, Multichoice spokesperson said, ordinarily the company would encourage their teams to come together to celebrate their achievements in the year that has passed.
“We have made the decision not to have any year-end celebrations this year,” said MultiChoice spokesperson Benedict Maaga.
“However, due to our efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19 and in order to protect our employees, customers and suppliers, we have made the decision not to have any year-end celebrations this year,” Maaga said.
Umhlanga’s Beverly Hills Hotel hosts approximately four lavish parties between the last two weeks in November and first two weeks in December.
However this year, numbers have decreased but many other events will be going ahead as scheduled including festive Friday lunches, Christmas and New Year’s entertainment and high teas.
Neo Mboniswa, public relations and communications manager at Tsogo Sun said the current situation was tougher than last year.
She said the group’s occupancies were depressed and they were experiencing shorter than usual booking lead times. Mboniswa said over the years, the glitz and glamour theme had topped their list.
“Guests love making an extra effort in their attire to complement the hotel’s overall luxury experience.
“They are often price conscious, however they don’t mind paying the price as they receive value for their money.”
She said it was important for companies to have these year-end parties as they needed to celebrate the hard work achieved throughout the year and these events presented an opportunity for employers to inspire their staff members for the year ahead.
For Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, the most lavish year-end office party that they have hosted cost at least R900 000 with 800 employees.
However, this year their corporate clients were playing it safe. The centre is seeing a fraction of the number of year-end events which are happening on a smaller scale than in past years.
Scott Langley, marketing, sales and events director, said the convention centre hosted about 15 year-end events between November and December and that popular themes with their clients include the Shebeen theme, Winter Wonderland, Disco or the 80’s Throwback and Tropical Nights.
“We have a number of year-end bookings, clients have had to re-adjust their event formats to accommodate the new normal and be compliant with the regulations to ensure that they are being held safely and responsibly,” said
Langley. “The Durban ICC ensures that event organisers are fully aware of all our health and safety measures, which are aligned with the World Health Organisation’s protocols for holding meetings.”
Langley said year-end parties were a perfect opportunity to celebrate together and share a business’ achievements.
“These events are also a good place for employees from all levels of a business to connect with each other in an informal setting and it often helps to nurture stronger working relationships for the year ahead.”
Sunday Tribune