Coronavirus: We will bounce back to normal soon - Event Vendors Association

We were badly hit by COVID-19, Event Vendors Association

Some workers were laid off, event vendors as they bemoan impact of COVID-19 on businesses

COVID-19 affected

Read full articleour supply chain, Kate Hassan

President of the Event Vendors Association of Ghana, Kate Hassan has said inasmuch as her members were gravely impacted by the global pandemic - Coronavirus - she’s optimistic that their businesses will bounce back to normal this year.

According to her, with the adherence of the COVID-19 protocols put in place by government, businesses are recovering from the shocks of the pandemic.

Narrating some of their ordeals at the launch of Ghana Event Industry Conference 2022, she stated event organization industry was badly hit to the extent that they were almost pushed out of business.

She indicated that some workers were laid off at the peak of the pandemic and as it stands now, event vendors are trying their best to cover up for refunds from customers, among others.

"The pandemic hasn’t only affected the event space, we all have been affected as a country. For our space, it is more tragic because, we’ve lost a lot of businesses, monies, payments with the banks to the extent that we had to lay off some of our workers and we know that our supply chain is very long so it has really affected our supply chains and it hasn’t been easy at all," she said.

"We are still trying to cover up for refunds and bank payments and the interest going up every and every day. It’s still tough but once we have life, we still believe we can be able to sort things out. As compared to last year, things are getting better with the vaccines in place and other things and we understand how the pandemic works, it’s getting much better and we are looking forward to a brighter future and a strong industry," she added.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of the food and hospitality industry, particularly in Ghana.

The food supply chain and hospitality sector have been paralyzed by the initial restrictions, inevitably leading to unemployment among cooks and kitchen staff, as there is no instrument such as "short-time working" schemes in Ghana to absorb the situation.