The tradition of getting married in a temple/church or marriage hall is slowly going out of vogue with the arrival of newer trends such as resort weddings and destination weddings, making the wedding more than just a celebration. While traditional weddings are in no way passé, they have undoubtedly been given the western twist. Theme weddings are fast becoming a popular facet of Indian weddings, with hotels deploying dedicated teams to cater to the wedding parties. Heritage properties see a steady stream of weddings that prefer a historical background to add to their special day. Beach weddings have become an aspiration for several youngsters. Indian couples have gone past the phase of run-of-the-mill honeymoon getaways to the latest exotic and scenic destination showcased in a recent movie or advertised on television. They now demand more of everything, be it quality, activities or experiences.
Wedding and Honeymoon tourism, as an authentic and imminent part of the tourism industry, is a sensation that has taken off worldwide in the past three-four years. NTO’s, state tourism boards and hotels are cashing in on this popular trend and are tapping this market aggressively.
India: The next exotic wedding destination
Wedding tourism in India is becoming prevalent as more and more foreigners, NRI’s and Indians are taking interest in the ‘Big Fat Traditional Indian Wedding’. India is a culturally rich country abundant in customs and traditions. Several high profile celebrities globally are increasingly showing an interest in celebrating their wedding in true blue Indian style. The opulence and splendour of the destination, as well as the vibrant Indian customs, evoke a lot of interest among the foreign nationals. Most international couples making their way to India are looking out for two types of Indian weddings, the ‘Maharaja’ or ‘Royal’ Wedding and the Brahmin Wedding. The former is replete with riches, exoticism and palaces, while the latter is all about spirituality, mysticism and Vedic rites.
State Tourism boards want to leverage on this new trend to increase inbound arrivals as well as domestic tourism. Wedding tourism has become a huge hit with states receiving record inquiries for hosting marriages. “During the peak season, between November and February, it is very difficult to accommodate all the queries that we get. Sometimes we have to turn down a few marriage parties due to unavailability of dates, which clearly highlights the popularity of Rajasthan as a wedding destination. Last year alone Rajasthan hosted around 50-60 NRI weddings and we expect the numbers to grow next year,” informed Randeep Dhankar, Chairman, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC). He further added that, on special occasions, RTDC has hosted royal wedding parties on their two luxury trains – the ‘Palace on wheels’ and the ‘Royal Rajasthan on Wheels.
Goa’s growing popularity as a wedding destination is reflected in the fact that some very high profile weddings have taken place in the state. To cash in on this growing trend the tourism department has recently introduced a single window clearance system for issuing permissions, including those required for destination weddings. Since the introduction of the system this year, the state has hosted about 20-25 wedding events already, this information was shared by Nilesh Cabral, Chairman, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC). Apart from these, states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh among others are also trying to tap the growing potential of this segment.
NTO’s betting big on wedding and honeymoon arrivals
Countries have turned their attention towards the big fat Indian wedding over the past few years and are positive that this trend will further drive tourist traffic from India to their destination. Thailand has firmly established itself as a perfect venue for Indian weddings. In the year 2012, over 100 couples from India celebrated their weddings in Thailand. “Thailand has for long been positioned as the preferred destination for Indian travellers. We are pleased and proud that we have established ourselves as a tourist destination and now are turning our attention towards the growing wedding and honeymoon segment. The Indian wedding market is massive and couples today do not want compromise on planning their honeymoon. People tying the knot in Thailand often extend their trip and plan their honeymoon in Thailand itself,” said Runjuan Tongrut, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) New Delhi Office..
TAT has also recently launched the second edition of ‘Weddings and celebration in Thailand’, which has all the information an Indian needs to plan a wedding or honeymoon in the destination. “TAT works closely with Thai tour operators and event management companies who take up the entire responsibility of organising the weddings, including airport transfers, wedding ceremonies, receptions, shopping and local commutes,” Tongrut added.
In a bid to increase tourist influx from India, Tourism Malaysia will promote itself as a premium wedding and honeymoon hub. “With the growing disposable income, Indians want to go out and do something different on their ‘Big Day’. India is Malaysia’s second largest tourism source market, with a total of 7,80,000 Indian tourist arrivals this year, and an expected 8,00,000 Indian arrivals next year. There has been a significant rise of Indians tourists, who are coming to celebrate important occasions such as weddings and honeymoons, and also to experience our adventure offerings,” said Amran Abdul Rahman, Director, Tourism Malaysia.
Oman has also joined the bandwagon and is all set to promote itself as a popular wedding and honeymoon destination. Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Oman at a recent press conference revealed that Indian weddings and honeymoon are two very important markets that Oman needs to capture. “The Indian wedding industry is worth a whopping US$ 25 billion a year and is enjoying a 20 per cent year on year growth. Oman is a short haul destination with excellent connectivity with India. We want to tap this market and increase tourist arrivals from here. Muscat serves as an excellent venue for an Indian wedding with several world class hotels and resorts in its vicinity.”
This year Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM) is promoting themed weddings in India. Carl Vaz, Director, DTCM- India shared that, owing to record visitor arrival numbers from India last year, DTCM will now be venturing into different market segments in India such as weddings. “Our key focus for 2013-14 will be wedding and honeymoon tourism. We plan to work very closely with all the wedding planners, Hotels and tour operators in Dubai to make this strategy a huge success. With this we aim to achieve double digit growth over 2012 by end of 2013,” he said.
Even tourism boards of Kenya, Maldives, Indonesia, Switzerland, UK and New Zealand among others have included wedding and honeymoon segments in their India centric marketing strategy.
Hotels cash in on unconventional weddings
Through lean periods and peak seasons, the one segment Indian hotels never face a dearth of is the wedding segment. And with increased disposable income and exposure to global practices, the demand for upscale weddings in the perfect hotel has become somewhat of a norm and not just a need for a good venue. As per the Taj Wedding Barometer, a survey commissioned by Taj Hotels and conducted by IPSOS, 25 per cent women prefer buying a combined wedding ceremony and honeymoon package from a 5 or 7 star hotel.
The Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre has hosted 95 weddings during the last wedding season and is looking at hosting more than 100 weddings this year. At HICC, approx 30 per cent of annual business comes from social events and weddings.
The Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & Hyderabad International Convention Centre has done traditional theme for weddings like Mandaps in a temple setup, as well as fusion and floral themes for various receptions. The property has a dedicated events team who assist the guests and provide customised solutions by recommending vendors to plan and execute theme weddings.
“Wedding are either themed traditional or contemporary. A majority of couples are opting to incorporate fresh and tantalising elements to their wedding rather than following the traditional way. Today, some of the more popular unique Indian wedding themes include Village theme, Goan wedding, and Arabic/Roman/Egyptian wedding themes. Couples are also opting to bring about an amalgamation of the East and west in their Indian weddings. Guest books, save the date cards, thank you cards which are not very common in traditional and conventional Indian weddings are being increasingly used by couples to add uniqueness to their wedding ceremonies,” said Rasika Singh, Director- Sales & Marketing, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & Hyderabad International Convention Centre.
In an effort to meet the business and leisure needs of the international and domestic traveller, K Raheja-owned The Resort in Mumbai, is focusing on emerging markets to tap the growing Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition (MICE) and Wedding segments.
According to Anuj Prakash, General Manager, The Resort, a comprehensive long-term strategy is being planned to tap the Indian market and increase Indian visitor arrivals. The focus will be to tap MICE and Wedding segments and to encash on the trend of weekend breaks to increase FIT traffic to India. “We are working on an incentive scheme for the Indian travel trade to promote and sell our property as the perfect destination for MICE and Weddings. We have already launched weekend packages to woo domestic tourists,” he added.
According to Singh, the biggest challenge is to meet the varied expectations of the guests within the budgets restrictions. Theme weddings also involve huge logistics coordination and planning which becomes tiresome for the family members, she added.
Weddings and honeymoons undeterred by Rupee depreciation
The depreciation of the Rupee has put the tourism industry in something of a pickle over the forecast of outbound travel in the coming months, especially the holiday season that is a popular travel period. However, Indian weddings have carried on unfased by the Rupee value drop, and so, of course, have honeymoon travels. Indian travel agents and tour operators have not held back while dipping their feet in this pool, especially for honeymoons. And not just because travelling abroad is the new norm for honeymoons. Indian traveller has become more experimental and is ready to pay for the comfort and luxury of a quality honeymoon while also opting for new activities, giving tour operators a chance to serve them better with newer options.
According to Karan Anand, Head-Relationships, Cox & Kings, Honeymoon packages contribute 20 per cent to Cox & Kings’ annual business with the growth being approximately 10 per cent year on year. “Weddings and honeymoons are once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Planning for these are done and accounted for. For Indians, travelling overseas is an aspiration and they will not give it up just because of the rupee depreciation. Indians work with a budget in mind when they plan their holidays and a fluctuation in exchange rate is not a factor that can act as a deterrent in holiday,” said Anand.
Agreeing with him, Vishal Suri, Chief Executive Officer, Tour Operating, Kuoni India stated that, With rising disposable income and increasing desire to have unique experiences, they do not compromise on budget while planning a honeymoon. He further opined that honeymoon couples have begun to prefer international destinations over domestic ones. “Despite the depreciating rupee and rising airfares, honeymooners are not willing to compromise while planning their honeymoon. They do not mind spending more than what they had originally budgeted for in order to have a memorable holiday experience,” he added.
“Indian honeymooners are increasingly opting for packages to off the beaten track and not the usual run off the mill destinations. Couples have begun to prefer destinations that offer new attractions and activities to indulge in such as skiing, self-drive in luxury sedans, spa, luxury cruises, castle-stay, helicopter rides and soft adventure. Adventure sports are also generating considerable interest from honeymooners. Scuba diving and white water river rafting are preferred by adventure seekers. We have to keep bringing innovation into our packages as a large number of couples want to see and engage in outdoor romantic activities. Whether it be enjoying a hot air balloon ride through the Avon valley of Australia and sipping champagne, or dining in the middle of a tropical rainforest, Couples seek for a number of romantic activities for them to engage in,” revealed Suri.
The perfect addition to a happy experience is to pamper bridal couples and newlyweds, and Indian tour operators are more than willing to go the extra mile to add to the couple’s happiness with the best possible arrangements. Cox & Kings, Anand stated, has specific Romance packages which include candle-lit dinners, chauffeur driven cars, romantic boat rides and excursions to islands, etc. “Since these packages are customised, we can adjust/add any factor that the couples desire, depending on the budget,” he said.
