How Amusement Industry Will Buckle up for the Omicron Wave?
Owing to the continuous rise in COVID-19 cases, essentially the emergence of the Omicron variant, the government has enforced new guidelines that permit a limited number of people in gatherings, in some cases requiring organizers to get written permission from concerned authorities. As a result, the amusement sector, yet again, is witnessing a heavy decline in a short span of finally getting on its feet. A lot of small amusement businesses that don't enjoy the luxury of a huge empire as a matter of fact took the biggest hit while even the well-diversified amusement businesses continue to witness steep decline.
Although people are persistently advised to exercise social distancing norms and wear masks, the cases have witnessed a rapid surge which in turn invited huge trouble for the operators of popular gated attractions in India as all of the mall operations declined, once again leading the operators to negotiate for rental concessions amid other economic hassles. The brutal pandemic, especially the omicron variant calls in to be kept in check before the overall market activity further slips.
The highly contagious Omicron variant has led to a disparity in highly concentrated amusement market outcomes and reactions and if kids are tied down at homes again, the game zones, snowparks, and other entertainment venues will take a hit, crumbling in the face of a potential third wave. The operational pressure coupled with the economic limitations multiplies the concern for the amusement businesses operators who entirely rely on crowd gatherings.
The further outbreak of the Omicron variant will negatively affect the growth of the amusement industry in this historic period marked by economic instability which increases input costs and decline margins. In the past two years, the global pandemic forced all amusement businesses to shut their operations and lay off employees in order to smoothly run their operations while reducing the expenditure burden.
Although the Omicron variant is currently under research regarding its transmissibility, the effectiveness of vaccines, diagnostic tests, and risk of reinfection, the surges in infections since the advent of Omicron is unwelcoming news for amusement industry which relies on socialization. The conclusive evidence indicates that the risk of reinfection by Omicron is higher for those who already have had Covid.
Most of the attractions, as they cautiously reopened, learned to operate effectively amid the new normal and challenging constraints, however the covid ride isn't over yet, and will require the amusement park operators to turn away from reopening the centers for full crowd capacity, in accordance with the new covid regulations. There's a negative sentiment of a probable third wave, which is expected to likely peak over the next 4 weeks, making the amusement industry feel a full impact of the slowdown.