AGI – From one hundred to zero within a year: the booking agenda of one of the most famous Salento reception rooms, the one managed by the Pastore family in Gallipoli, in Salento, is empty. It is due to the pandemic and, as the owners tell the AGI, “for an incredible oversight of the government”. The Salento structure is one of the many that in Puglia corroborate a sector that, at least until the appearance of the global health crisis, was in strong growth, also being able to count on a growing number of admirers in the world. The wedding Apulian, with its 110 thousand employees, before Covid it developed a total annual turnover estimated at one billion euros according to what it attests Assoeventi-Confindustria.
“We are on our knees”
“We are literally on our knees but, what is worse, we do not know when we will be able to leave again, as opposed to what happens for many other sectors, from the seaside to the catering sector, for which there are already dates”, explain the entrepreneurs Roberto and Paolo Pastore, who, in addition to the reception hall, also manage a famous nightclub in the Salento city. “In ten years of activity – explains Roberto Pastore – we have organized more than a thousand weddings, employing about fifty people, without counting birthday parties, graduation parties and many other events. All reservations for the month of May are jumping and will probably be canceled also those of June, while many ceremonies have been postponed to a later date due to the great uncertainty that reigns in this sector. We have a structure of 10 thousand square meters – says Roberto Pastore – with a large park for banquets and parties outside, an amphitheater for 200 people, but everything is closed without the prospect of a restart “.
Roberto Pastore
Michele Boccardi, national president of Assoeventi, an articulation of Confindustria which aggregates companies that organize civil, religious and professional events, parties and ceremonies, also from Puglia, said he was very worried that Prime Minister Mario Draghi did not indicate the wedding among the sectors that will be able to get back on track in the coming weeks.
“While we wait abroad they are organized”
“While we wait, Spain, Croatia and Greece are organizing themselves accumulating an advantage that can hardly be bridged if we continue to hesitate”, remarks Roberto Pastore. “Ours is an attractive area – insists the businessman from Salento – so much so that we have hosted weddings for couples from all over the world. Then suddenly nothingness “.
Puglia, as Michele explained Boccardi in recent days, together with other Italian regions, including Sicily and Tuscany, it has carved out an important role in the so-called destination wedding, a phenomenon that has led, in recent years, more and more couples to choose a foreign country such as location for their wedding. Suffice it to recall the sumptuous wedding ceremony organized in September 2014 in Fasano, in the Brindisi area, by Ritika Agarwal, third child of the Indian millionaire Pramod Agarwal, e Rohan Choose, heir to the founder of the fashion house Mexx. Before them, in 2012, the singer-songwriter had also chosen Salento for their wedding ceremony Justin Timberlake and actress Jessica Biel.
“We are ready to apply last year’s protocol – says Roberto Pastore – but they have to tell us when we can reopen, we can’t wait any longer. We are only part of a sector that is dying and that includes many professionals. Wedding planner, musicians, photographers, hairdressers, stylists, florists all belong to a vital sector for the economy. This is a cry of alarm – concludes Roberto Pastore – addressed to those who have our destiny in their hands ”.
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