The holiday season is approaching and the demand for corporate in-person parties in Calgary is on the rise.
From vendors to banquet halls, businesses that depend on a busy Christmas season are booked solid.
Allison Estay runs Out Of Our Heads Productions, a Calgary-based company that hosts game shows, trivia and team-building exercises across Canada.
For the past two years, she’s had to pivot to online events but because of the nature of her business, it wasn’t the same as holding in-person parties.
“I thought last year my business was done,” said Estay. “I thought this was it. I started looking for a new career and everything.”
But in 2022, her calendar is now full with as many as three events a day through until mid-December.
“It’s a record year,” said Estay. “It’s crazy. Everybody just wants to bond and get together and have fun.”
Banquet halls are also seeing a dramatic rise in the number of bookings.
Gabriela Fierro is the front-of-host manager for the Empire Banquet Hall in northeast Calgary.
She says the businesses once again have the budgets and the desire to host full-fledged events.
“It’s been so nice for us to get back to business again,” said Fierro. “It’s nice to see people happy again. They’re dancing and having fun. It’s back to normal.”
No COVID concerns
Both Estay and Fierro say very few clients have been asking about COVID or health policies while booking.
“I haven’t had a single person asked me about COVID protocols,” explained Estay. “The signage is still up and people are still sanitizing. I find that the service staff are all wearing masks, but the guests themselves are not.”
With no government policies in place, Fierro says it’s up to the individuals to choose what level of protection they’re comfortable with.
“We’ve seen some people choose to wear masks, but most of the people don’t want to,” said Fierro. “They don’t talk about (COVID). I feel like they just want to forget about it.”
Health services expert Lorian Hardcastle said that attitude is leading her to expect a rise in cases of COVID and other illnesses with the more in-person events being held over the holidays.
“I think it’s unlikely that the government is going to reinstitute any COVID related measures,” said Hardcastle. “So I think individuals are going to have to listen to messaging from doctors and trusted scientists around what sorts of precautions they should be taking.”
Hardcastle adds she expects to see some private businesses bring back rules for employees who are concerned about absenteeism.