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Fancy a dream destination wedding? Check out which countries are Indian couples' favourite for upcoming shadi season

Turkey, Cambodia, other countries conducting familiarisation trips to explore their potential

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The Rs 4,000 crore Indian wedding industry is a prize catch for so many destination countries. Every year, the many wedding-management companies, decor and FnB companies, hotels and caterers are waiting breathlessly for the wedding season, which has expanded to mammoth proportions in the last decade. No event is glamorous, classy or glitzy enough for the Indian brand of weddings. As more and more revenue is generated from the business, and clients want more beautifully-perfect weddings, this industry is here to stay and grow with each year. And it does, by about 15% of its already-expanding size.

This was not the case 15 years ago, when Mr Zuzer Lucnowala started the wedding segment of Party Cruisers, called ‘vivaah’. “People usually got married in the city they were born and brought up in, because everyone they knew lived around them”. But as mobility patterns changed and people started living all over the country, opportunities expanded and a thirst for new locations came into the forefront. “In a particular wedding season, an individual will typically go to 8 to 10 weddings, depending on their social circle. After a point, the locations, the venues and the food became monotonous and people wanted to do something special for their weddings, something unique. That is how the whole idea of destination wedding comes to play”, says Zuzer.

From wedding destinations within the country like Goa and Rajasthan, now other countries are becoming popular as destinations for weddings. In Zuzer’s words, “If you look at the costs incurred in planning a destination wedding in Goa, including flight travel, hotel bookings, venue, décor and the rest, it’s the equivalent of having a destination wedding in Thailand.” With competing costs and more exotic options, many people can now easily opt for weddings in exotic locations aboard.

In fact, across the world, the term of ‘wedding tourism’ is catching up as it gives an opportunity for people to see a new place and engage in the wedding festivities. This boosts the local revenue of the host country to a large extent, which gets to host 300-400 people in one wedding party itself. And, countries have begun to recognise this and are welcoming Indian wedding-management companies to explore such opportunities.

Traditionally, locations like Thailand and Greece have been much-loved wedding destinations for many Indians, with the white sands and romantic settings. But even as we look, more and more countries are getting into the fray. Cambodia, Turkey and Bahrain are conducting what is known as ‘familiarisation trips’ to acquaint Indian wedding agencies to explore the potential of their country for a great Indian wedding.

What are familiarisation trips? Typically, a country would send out invites to Indian wedding-planning agencies to come for 15-20 days and look at the avenues available for destination weddings. Usually, these trips are all expense paid except the flight travel. Zuzer tells us, “We are shown everything from hotels to exotic locations and get introduced to local vendors and even people from the ministry. The idea is for us agencies to feel comfortable and confident to see their country as a promising wedding destination.”

Weddings, apart from being big business, are also emotional, traditional and personal journeys of individuals and their families. A great wedding is probably an adventure to be cherished for all the time to come. And, that is why clients are excited about such untouched destinations.

“While places like Thailand are already done many times over, Cambodia is relatively new. An opportunity of a new country is a win-win for everyone. The country gets to host that many people and become a wedding destination, the couple and the families are happy because they have found a relatively untouched destination to go to and we have more and more options for our clients.”

A newspaper in Bahrain also documents this trend in a September 2017 issue, ‘In line with its 2016-2018 strategy, aimed at promoting Bahrain as a wedding destination, Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority (BTEA) organised a familiarisation trip for 10 Indian wedding planning agencies.’ The article talks about the selection of such wedding companies, which was based on their reputation and experience in planning destination weddings. Similarly, in May 2017, Kilmer, a newspaper of Cambodia discussed the ease of air travel initiated between India and Cambodia, also to facilitate Indian destination weddings in Cambodia, a country which has the influence of Buddhist, Hindu and Indian architecture.

Curious about the cost of a destination wedding in Thailand? “Except for the costs of travel to the country, which is borne by the guest, everything else is looked after. Right from pick up, stay, travel to wedding location, food, everything.

On an average this is about 1 crore”, says Zuzer.

A GRAND AFFAIR

  • Cambodia, Turkey, Bahrain are conducting ‘familiarisation trips’ to acquaint Indian wedding planners with their potential to host wedding
     
  • With competing costs & more options, many people now opt for exotic locations aboard for grand wedding celebration
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