Some key industries on celebrating the holiday season in 2020
By Naveed Rozais
Covid-19 has tormented us throughout 2020, and sadly looks set to make us feel its impact on our lives well into 2021. But as 2020 draws to a close, and the holiday season approaches, we must now think about what this 2020 holiday season is going to look like.
For Sri Lankans, who for the most part don’t celebrate Christmas as a religious festival, the holiday season is still a festive time with lots to do, lots to see, and lots to eat. With Covid-19 and Sri Lanka’s second wave effectively locking us into our homes and many of our key industries struggling, the 2020 holiday season is set to look very different from years gone by.
Hotels and the tourism industry have been some of the worst hit in the face of the pandemic, hitting at a time when tourism had just bounced back from the 2019 Easter attacks.
The big city hotel Christmas
Speaking from the perspective of Sri Lanka’s big hotels, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) President Sanath Ukwatte stressed that it was now more important than ever to follow the government guidelines, including social distancing. Ukwatte shared that large-scale celebrations and festivities are out of the question, though this doesn’t mean that there will be no celebrations. “Nevertheless, Christmas is a holy event for Christians and must be celebrated, so we might have a sombre Christmas this year,” Ukwatte said, adding: “It’s a very difficult scenario to try and plan around it, because the situation is constantly changing. There is also always the chance of the Government imposing another lockdown. A lot of hotels are still undecided on whether to have big parties and New Year’s Eve celebrations.”
[caption id="attachment_105192" align="alignleft" width="300"]
"The situation is constantly changing. There is also always the chance of the Government imposing another lockdown. A lot of hotels are still undecided on whether to have big parties and New Year’s Eve celebrations,"
THASL President Sanath Ukwatte [/caption]
Ukwatte shared that across the board, things were likely to be toned down this season. “In Sri Lanka, Christmas is not a huge period traditionally, but combined with school holidays and the end of the year, you have expats visiting, and Sri Lankans from abroad also travel home to visit their families, get together, go on holidays, etc. A lot of people patronise hotels during this period. This year, with the airports closed, we’re not planning a huge celebration as such. We’ll be toning down all the events,” Ukwatte noted.
“One good thing the pandemic has done is making hotels source more and more things locally,” Ukwatte said, noting that the tourism industry is one that largely uses local resources anyway, with approximately 95% of every tourism dollar earned staying within the country in terms of outflow on imports. “Our total imports are very minimal, unlike other industries which have to import significant raw materials. We mainly import particular beverages and spirits which are not made here and certain specialised food items.”
Colombo’s big city hotels are famous for their Christmas decor, from big Christmas trees to lighting installations on the lawn to any number of innovative decorations. Ukwattte shared that this year, Christmas decor is likely to be more restrained than previous years. “We will, of course, have a certain amount of Christmas decorations to suit the occasion and the traditional holiday season. It’s an important event in our calendar, but I think decorations in hotels, for the most part, will not be as extravagant as it has in the past.”
Restaurants and nightlife over the holiday season
Colombo City Restaurant Collective (CCRC) President Harpo Gooneratne weighed in on the upcoming holiday season, noting that restaurants and bars in Colombo would each develop their own campaigns and promotions for the holiday season. On a general note, Gooneratne shared that things are very uncertain. “The way we’re moving forward, every day is a new day, but if you actually analyse it, I don’t see it being a great Christmas season because we’re going through a second wave of Covid-19. We’ll have to come up with a kind of theme or concept and look at doing more home-based deliveries.”
Gooneratne, who is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Harpo’s Hotels, Cafes, and Restaurants shared that the Harpo’s Group will be doing a campaign along the lines of staying home and staying safe with specialty dishes and have come up with great packages including all the seasonal favourites like turkey and pudding, and will focus more on delivery. “Personally, I think most people won’t want to step out this season. They’ll want to stay home and not take unnecessary risks.”
Gooneratne also shared that bar culture is likely to be very different this holiday season, especially since tourists and people who travel back to Sri Lanka from abroad for the holidays won’t be visiting. “I don’t see big 31st night celebrations this year. There won’t be DJs, bands, and parties like in the past. This year will be very low key. We need to co-operate with the authorities. It’s very important that businesses adhere to health regulations and understand the gravity of the situation. This is key because if we don’t, we won’t have a Christmas next year either. Covid-19 is something we have to learn to live with and work around now.”
Making an event of Christmas in the best way you can
The event industry, which usually thrives around this time of year, has come to a virtual standstill. Event Management Association Sri Lanka President Roshan Wijeyaratne explained that since Sri Lanka is at alert Level 3 in terms of Covid-19, with many active clusters present around the country, corporate and private events are both not allowed to take place.
“If we stay at Level 3, we can’t have any Christmas celebrations,” Wijeyaratne said, adding: “It all depends on how the general public responds to these current guidelines and if the threat reduces by December.”
Wijeyaratne shared that the events industry was slowly starting to pick up ahead of the holiday season, with inquiries and bookings being made for events to take place in November and December. The second wave of Covid-19 saw the cancellation of all these events. “We’re now back to where we were in April and May with zero work coming in,” Wijeyaratne said.
Speaking on building the Christmas spirit during the upcoming holiday season, Wijeyaratne shared that the media will play a big role in making the Christmas feeling come alive. “Electronic media especially can play a big role in creating the Christmas feel,” Wijeyaratne said, by having choirs perform online and having online Christmas shows. He added: “The Government also needs to play a part in keeping people’s spirits high. Lots of people go through depression during Christmastime because they are away from their families or have lost loved ones. Where the Government will need to work to keep spirits high is through decorations and dressing up the streets so celebrations can still go on even without people physically coming together.”
On dealing with the pandemic, Wijeyaratne stressed that the power is with the general public to come through this smoothly and safely. “Everything is in our hands to control this, not the Government’s. We should all be responsible enough to follow guidelines, to protect ourselves and those around us. That’s the only way.”
Making Christmas look the part
Decor alone is a huge part of Christmas festivities, from the simple Christmas tree to the big installations put up in public areas. Decorations supplier Edys Founder Dr. Edward Samarasekara shared some insight on what is happening within the world of decor this 2020 holiday season. “This year hasn’t been great and now people are spending a lot of time at home. I see a lot of people trying to bring out cheer by setting up their Christmas trees early. We’ve been receiving orders for Christmas decor from mid-September onwards, both for end-user homes as well as companies.”
[caption id="attachment_105190" align="alignleft" width="210"]
"This year, the main issue is people are afraid to come out and go looking for decorations. They’re scared to move around so sales are mostly taking place online and they ask us to deliver,"
Edys Founder Dr. Edward Samarasekara [/caption]
The demand for this year has dropped slightly, Dr. Samarasekara noted. “This year, the main issue is people are afraid to come out and go looking for decorations. They’re scared to move around so sales are mostly taking place online and they ask us to deliver. This has affected our supply chain somewhat, but this year, Edys is delivering decorations to our customers’ doorsteps.”
The experience of 2020 and the struggle that has come with it has inspired some to put more effort into their Christmas decorations. Dr. Samarasekara shared that while some hotels are not actively investing in Christmas decorations this year, opting for subtle decorations, or reusing old decorations, some hotels have seized this time to go all-out and do something new and inspiring with their decorations.
“On the whole, many people are staying home safe and bringing out Christmas cheer by decorating their homes early,” Dr Samarasekara said, adding: “In a way, it is a good thing because it’s bringing families together in a nice way.”
What’s Christmas without the cake?
Christmas is nothing without the ever-popular Christmas cake and the sweet treats that come with Christmas. Bakes By Bella Founder Melissa Dharmadasa shared that, for her, Christmas is always a huge deal. “I’ve already put up my Christmas tree at Bakes by Bella. It’s something that always cheers me up. At Bakes by Bella, every year we put out a range of Christmas-themed hampers, have Christmas cake, eggnog, and various other Christmas goodies for sale. We’re still doing that this year. As always, we’re also doing customisable bakes for people to use for their Christmas morning tables.”
On a subdued mid-pandemic lockdown, Melissa expressed hope. “I genuinely feel that things will pick up closer to the season. People will be looking forward to the break. There definitely won’t be as many gatherings as there used to because of social distancing, but I’m fairly optimistic that people will want to live a lot during this season.”
As bakers, Melissa shared that each baker's response to the season will be based on their individual business and their clients. In the case of Bakes by Bella, Melissa’s customer base knows that she “goes insane at Christmas” and that she’s “always like that”.
Creating the best mid-pandemic Christmas
Sometimes the most uncertain times can help build the most powerful memories. It’s not always about having the biggest party or being seen at the hottest place in town. It’s about the people with whom you share your Christmas and the passion with which you celebrate this holiday season. In the words of Melissa from Bakes by Bella, “authenticity is contagious, and if you show excitement and share good vibes, it will spread like wildfire”.
