The latest guidelines from Oahu give more hope to the events industry, but the business will take some time to recover

Governor David Ige and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced new “managed events” guidelines on Friday.

From this Wednesday, viewers can watch outdoor sports events under certain restrictions.

On Wednesday, October 20, new guidelines for indoor entertainment events such as concerts and sports halls and interactive outdoor events such as weddings and funerals will come into effect.

Blangiardi was pleased to announce that fans can return to the stands for games, but acknowledged that there are concerns and challenges at events such as weddings and funerals.

“We understand the dynamics of these events, and so we want to be able to allow food, we want to allow people to mingle,” he said. “We want these outdoor events to be as respectful and normal as possible and in the right context.”

Last week, dozens of event planners and workers gathered outside of Honolulu and the State Capitol, calling for structured events like weddings to be allowed.

In late August, the city re-enforced its restrictions on social gatherings of 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors. This applied not only to family and other social gatherings, but also to the events industry.

For event companies, the restrictions are holding back their recovery.

“Only in the last six weeks or so have we lost millions of dollars,” said Heather Baily, vice president of MC&A – a local event management company.

While the restrictions were originally supposed to expire in September, Blangiardi extended them until October 19. These social gathering restrictions will remain in effect until then.

Bailey says her company and the events industry have seen more and more people cancel or change their plans amid uncertainty whether restrictions will remain in place or lifted in time for their event.

She says her company did more business in other islands in the state because there was more flexibility in hosting events.

But Friday’s announcement gave the Oahu companies hope that they can operate in the future.

According to the new guidelines, up to 150 people or 50% of the event capacity can attend, attendees must be vaccinated, but staff can also present a negative COVID test result. Masked mixing is allowed, but a mitigation plan must be presented to the city.

But despite the new guidelines, Bailey says her industry won’t recover anytime soon since it takes weeks or months to plan an event.

She adds that she is still concerned because Ige hasn’t provided specific metrics to consider in relation to easing or re-implementing restrictions. Earlier this month, Ige extended the Emergency Proclamation, which ordered the state’s COVID security measures to remain in place until the end of November.

“It has caused concern among many customers that things could and would change in the blink of an eye,” said Bailey. “And if they were planning their programs and bringing them here, what they are planning now would not be what would happen tomorrow, and not in their favor.”

At the moment, event companies in Oahu are looking forward to operating guidelines. But Blangiardi says the city will closely monitor organized events for COVID clusters or outbreaks.