MARRIOT MANILA DECLARES 2021 AS YEAR OF WEDDINGS
THE coronavirus disease 2019 (Covidpandemic has indeed placed everyone and everything to a grinding halt. Even a man and a woman’s most anticipated exchange of vows, and with it the businesses of wedding suppliers and venues.
To recall, celebrities Richard Gutierrez and Sarah Lahbati had to postpone their big wedding on March 14 because of the health crisis. What was supposed to be a high profile event with showbiz royalties, Philippine presidents and business tycoons in the bridal entourage and guest list, became a civil ceremony with only a few family members and friends as witnesses.
Manila Marriott, one of the most elegant wedding destinations in the capital, admitted that the quarantines and social distancing rules saw many wedding postponements at the hotel, besides the cancellation of its
renowned year bridal fair, “Marry Me at Marriot.”
Bruce Winton, Cluster General Manager of Marriott Hotel Manila, said over a digital press conference, “This is a disruption to people’s lives.
We’ve seen a lot of children graduate from high school and college virtually, and we’ve seen birthdays celebrated over social media and the privacy of our own homes. But imagine your wedding day — the biggest day of your life? There were many questions that came along as this whole quarantine started to evolve.”
Nevertheless, they immediately assured their brides and grooms the hotel will do everything they can to help them re-plan their special day.
“There was a little bit of denial in the beginning with brides, grooms and families having many questions. And obviously, we immediately took on a stance of understanding the emotional impact of the situation, and promised we’re going to do whatever we can to be a good partner and accommodate what is a very upsetting moment in our lives,” Winton related. An optimist, the general manager believes the world can beat Covid-19 in the coming months and encouragingly declared 2021 as the Year of Weddings.
“We’ve had free rebooking and no cancellation fees. Events cancelled but weddings don’t. Dates have been rebooked and what we are doing making a big shift to focus on 2021. I think it will be the year of nuptials because a lot of people have waited 12 months to do it all over again.”
Meanwhile, Manila Marriot and the rest of the properties at Resorts World Manila, which is also a popular MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) hub, have used the long months of quarantine to prepare and adapt to the “new normal.”
“Obviously, meetings and events have been traumatically impacted at these times. Any take of massive gatherings is something that’s going to have to be handled very carefully moving forward,” Winton noted.
“On a positive note, there are a lot of indicators that people are ready to host events again. We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about availability, about our ability to host events again and obviously about our protocols,” he enthused.
“The nice thing about the Marriott Grand Ballroom is that it is grand, it is large and the number one thing that we are doing is implementing the social distancing protocols. There is a need to give more space for less people, and that’s something we have been blessed with, an abundance of space.”
The grand ballroom, which is almost 3,000 square meters, is just one of the hotel’s 42 different meeting spaces. Moreover, yet a new venue was ready to launch before the quarantines and now available for future events. This is the MGBX Convention Hall which has another 3,400 square meter of space.
“The 50 percent occupancy will apply to meetings and events as we move in to the MGCQ [modified general community quarantine] period and we will definitely be able to host events by then with social distancing measures in place,” Winton continued.
“Of course the health checks, temperature screening, flow of guests, how we register using technology to digital registration, sanitizing touch points and a dramatic difference on how food and beverage are served are all included in these preparations.”
The cluster general manager also pointed out that educating their guests plus the use of their mobile application will allow them to keep contact with their customers for advisories and announcements digitally.
Confident the Manila Marriot Hotel is all set to handle the new normal, Winton ended, “We are excited to get moving again. A lot of events were postponed and rebooked. Some are into 2021, but some are still this for year. But whatever comes in our way, we have the expertise, we have the resources and we have the space to grow and provide additional space for them forward. We are ready and we are here.”