Marrying Weddings With Holidays

Weddings are no longer a typical evening matter of tradition that one needs to show up for and be done with. Seems, it may entail some tourism by the way, unravels Bhisham Mansukhani

Marriages are said to be in made in heaven. Wedding ocassions, on the other hand play out very much on earth with plenty cultural fare. Given that in a lot of cases, this is a once-in-lifetime affair, for some couples, the regular drill of a reception in a plush and familiar backdrop that mirrors one they've probably been invited to for other marital occassions, won't do anymore. Pair that with the parallel and growing phenomenon of thematic tourism and an NRI population in excess of 30 million, most of them with strong cultural roots, and what portends is a marriage that can give couples a memorable affirmation of vows and tour operators a revenue stream that may probably never relent.

About Time To Propose

Marriage tourism globally speaking is not a new concept. In the west, combining weddings with holiday and therein, a variety of themes, has been a popular concept for the less orthodox for quite sometime now. Unbinding vow exchanges littering Las Vegas and Hawaii were some of the firsts to initiate this trend. Tourism departments in several other countries were quick to lap up this trend and invite international tourists over for their big day, putting out a calendar of scenic options and traditions to choose from. In India, though, the government is still to wake up to this phenomenon, despite a thriving NRI population, which by instinct, gravitates back home for marital affairs. The Tourism of India site put up by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, is still only promoting "the elaborate cultural insight that wedding offer into India for international tourists" rather than convincing them to have their own in India. It's only the private tour operators who have taken the lead, among them TCI, Cox and Kings and Ganesham Tours.

What It Takes

TCI is poised to offer its clients, Destination Weddings - a package which in its entireity, covers a Mehendi Night strewn with all of the authentic paraphenalia, Sangeet, bridal make-up using Ayurveda, a tropical flowers laden venue and subsequent ceremony. It marks the mammoth tour operators transition into this segment, and with it, a very intricate form of event management.

Meher Bhandara, TCI, is patiently positive and proffers, "We estimate the market to be large enough to invest in .After all , weddings will never go out of fashion. In India, marriages used to be seasonal. They are no longer so and depend on the convenience of the families who may be scattered all over the world. Furthermore, the event dates would play an important role in determining the costs." The size of the market so far, confers Bhandara, remains restricted to the cream of the tourism spectrum.

"We see the profile as upmarket, well travelled and exclusive. People who want to be different and set a trend. This is not a mass market product. While it will focus on the domestic and NRI market, we also expect it to catch up with foreigners who would cherish memories of such an unusual wedding experience and location," Bhandara says. TCI has identified Rajasthan , Goa and Agra so far as potential venues with an assortment of themes to choose from.

"Themes will differ, depending on the location and the setting.It could be a Regal Wedding in a fabulous palace hotel in Rajasthan, an informal fun celebration with a carnival atmosphere in Goa, a Mughal theme in Agra . As I said, it's what you can conjure up to make it a memorable event. Incidentally, each and every Destination Wedding will be different and totally customised. If our clients want to get married on a raft in the middle of a lake, we'll do it," Bhandara said.

It has a limited outbound potential as costs would work out quite high, considering that Indian weddings require a lot of ceremonies in addition to the cost of extra manpower cost of hosting guests etc. However there will be an exclusive few who would prefer to invite a limited number of guests and celebrate the event at an overseas destination.

There's also a flip side that make wedding tourism as unique as does its perrenial appeal - logistics. Tour operators are not alien to making arrangements but here's an function that goes beyond accomodation, meals and sightseeing. There's an entire event or a series of it to be organised. An extension of a tour operator's conventional role perhaps. Bhandara comments, "That will depend on what the requirements are. Obviously, many elements like entertainment, the barat, decoration,theme paries will be outsourced .

A tour operator, if he has the imagination and the resources can make the transition without much difficulty. However this is not stricly event management as it also entails the development, promotion and execution of a new business venture. This involves a lot of perfect planning and coordination, includes travel logistics management and personalisation on every level."

Will It, Won't It?

The biggest danger that thematic tourism faces in India is the overwhelming suspicion regarding its sustenance. To make it worse for wedding tourism, which in India is still nascent, it could be percieved as an inconoclastic invasion on a fundamental tradition.

So feels Jay M, Jay Travel Services Director, B Andrews, "I'm very skeptical about the trend catching on at present. "India is known for its traditional culture. It will be difficult for people to accept travel agents organising a private affair like a wedding. As far as booking honeymoon packages or air tickets to go to a wedding, people are accustomed to going to travel agents. But, I don't think this trend will be viable. Even NRIs have some family members here who can make arrangements. Without direct family involvement, no one will proceed with a wedding."

Kesari Tours Director Sudhir Patil, on the other hand feels there is a need for consumer awareness to make this concept acceptable though Kesari has no immediate plans to tap this segment. "There is great potential for wedding tourism in India, mostly on the domestic front, but that will need a long awareness campaign for the concept to be embraced by the market. No doubt, there are great margins to be had."

S Srinivasan, assistant sales manager for sales, Oasis Tours India quickly brushes any reservation aside but with a mix of caution. "I think the trend will catch on, although I haven't yet heard of any specific tour operators here extending service to organising weddings. I'm sure it is well stabilised in Kerala and Andhra as the NRI population from those states is much higher. There is definitely immense scope for increasing inbound tourism through this. It will definitely be well accepted. As far as the logistics are concerned, it can be worked out - tour operators can make contacts in different industries and organise events like weddings. If the trend does catch on it will be much later. It can possibly increase inbound tourism, not only via the NRI population, but also among foreigners. If the opinion about India is that this is an exotic destination for a wedding, then definitely people abroad will be interested in getting married here."

R Murthy from Jaya Travel and Tours, too, seconds, "Definitely wedding tourism will work if there's an awareness created about the concept via the media. If the public is exposed to ads on TV and the Internet, then more and more people will be interested in this concept. It won't happen all of a sudden."

Murthy however doesn't think that inbound tourism will increase and is of the opinion that people within a city will contact a local tour operator to organise weddings.

Bangalore-based Navras Travels' MD Niranjan Gupta hasn't heard the inquiries ringing for local tour operators so far and attributes the lack of enthusiasm to orthodoxy and economy in relative variance. "In Karnataka, the concept of wedding tourism is yet to take off. It will be a while for such a trend to come into this state because even though Bangalore has reached heights of advancement, people are still conservative. Spending power is increasing but has not reached a level wherein there will be a sudden emergence of marriage tourism. The costing involved is quite high, and for us to arrange the entire travel will surely end up into big expenses. People are satisfied with honeymoon, for now."

Suresh Pendakur, Manager, Sales South, Cox & Kings, differs. "I would vouch for this trend, because it is a booming section. It has started off really well in Bangalore, because of the presence of an elite crowd. A marriage hall costs about Rs two lakh, while if one goes for a star category hotel, it will cost him much less as hotels do not charge for the hall. So it comes to just Rs 300 or so per person, which turns out to be much cheaper even if you have guests of about 250 to 300 people also. We entered into this trend about a year ago and we have realised that there is good enough potential in this segment. We have even sent families to Nepal, Singapore etc.

Bhandara makes a case for the convenience that a wedding tourism package contains, saying, "With TCI's Destination Weddings, the customer benefits from all services from travel arrangements to the successful execution of the event under one roof, which saves him time and money and makes it convenient to deal with one entity."

With inputs from Sivanand Vyas - Bangalore, Susan George - Chennai