Organisers postpone events until after 100-day mourning
ALTHOUGH the government will allow entertainment activities to resume after the 30-day national mourning period ends, more than 80 per cent of entertainment-based marketing and show-businesses events planned for the final quarter of the year have been postponed to February or March, according to the Event Management Association.
EMA chairman Sermkhun Kunawong told The Nation that most event and concert organisers had decided to postpone their shows until after the 100-day mourning period comes to an end in late January in order to respect public sentiment over the departure of the much-revered King.
“While granting permission to resume entertainment activities and concerts after November 14, the government has also asked for cooperation in running such events appropriately during the 100-day mourning period. Some event organisers, therefore, are still hesitant on going ahead with their planned events and entertainment shows during that period,” Sermkhun explained.
In addition to this, some big companies have to wait and see what the situation is after the broadcasting regulator recently told major media such as free-to-air TV broadcasters and radio stations to liven their tone gradually during the 100-day mourning period before returning to completely normal programming.
Workpoint Entertainment recently announced plans to hold a musical called “Nitarn Hinghoi, The Musical” (Tale of the Fireflies) on January 28. The company said that under its original plan, the show was scheduled to run from October 8 to November 5. Unfortunately, only three rounds of the show had been onstage on October 8 and 9 before the company decided to postpone the event after His Majesty’s death was announced.
Last week, Central Pattana announced that it would not host a beer garden in front of its flagship shopping complex, CentralWorld, this winter. As well, Thai Asia Pacific Brewery, the owner of Heineken, Cheers and Tiger beers, said it had no plan to host outdoor beer gardens.
However, Sermkhun noted that some product-launching events or concerts would have to go on as originally planned as the organisers could not alter the arrangements made with their sponsors or had no plan B.
Some companies decided to drop their high-profile launch events but to offer their new products to target customers quietly.
He pointed to the launch of the new iPhone 7 as an example in this regard, as telecom firms have cancelled their plans to announce new packages Apple’s new smartphone but have still welcomed customers’ orders for the device.
Sermkhun forecast that the overall event industry would experience a 10-per-cent drop of from last year’s market value to Bt14 billion.
