Biting inflation couldn't dampen 'romance economy'

Flower shops ran out of stock, restaurants had almost no food left in their kitchens to welcome a rushing stream of guests, and bars and discos were struggling with overcrowded counters: This is how Dhaka celebrated Valentine's Day – at a time when the nation has been reeling from the above 8% inflationary pressure since August last year.

Since August 2022, the last five to six months have been filled with grim numbers, most of them preceded by a gain lower than the inflationary pinch. Many lost jobs while others faced income losses, a dollar shortage haunted import and production and an inconsistent energy supply put a squeeze on people.

But the grim numbers could not deter Dhakaites from offering common romantic gestures such as buying flowers, a romantic dinner with live music at glitzy hotels or dining out with loved ones.

Sales of flower shops in Dhaka's Shahbagh jumped to Tk1.5 lakh-Tk3 lakh each on Valentine's Day from the Tk10,000 at regular times, said florists.

"Normally we sell roses at Tk10-Tk20 per piece. But it skyrocketed to Tk100 on Valentine's Day. A mini bouquet, which costs Tk50 at regular times, was sold at Tk250-Tk300," said Md Alfas, owner of Suborno Pushpa at Shahbagh.  

"Many of the shops even ran out of roses on Valentine's Day," he said, adding sales this time began on 13 February night and continued to 15 February.

Dhaka's restaurants and cafes also saw the romance economy spurring the sales. 

Rajib Das, the owner of a restaurant at Mirpur-2 Love Road, said they had to request their guests to vacate the tables after dining on the 14 February evening, which they would not do to customers at regular times.  

"The crowd was big and it continued till 11 pm," said Rajib, as he estimated his Valentine's sales stood at around Tk2 lakh.

He said that there are nearly 100 restaurants on Love Road, and all of them had guests streaming in on that day.  

Another eatery at Momo Station in Agargaon, whose regular sales hover around Tk5,000 a day, sold food worth Tk20,000 per day centering on Valentine's Day celebrations. 

Anwar, the eatery owner, said they had the dishes in the kitchen empty by 10 pm on 13 February.  

Hotels like InterContinental Dhaka and Pan Pacific Sonargaon also had guests pouring in to enjoy the offers and special decorations.   

"To celebrate Valentine's, we had different dinner arrangements with live music, ranging from Tk6,500 to Tk7,500 per person. We got a good number of guests that day," said Syeda Faica Fareea, assistant communication manager at InterContinental Dhaka.

Mohammed Nafeuzzaman, public relations manager of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, said their Valentine's buffet lunch and dinner packages with live music were at Tk5,500-Tk50,000 per person.

On the occasion of Valentine's Day, the entry fee to Sonargaon Hotel's disco bar was set at Tk5,000 from Tk3,000. Even after that, the disco was overwhelmed with guests on 14 February. 

A bar manager at the Intercontinental said their guest turnout on Valentine's Day was around 20% more than the usual days.