The big fat Indian wedding: cheaper hotels & flights, visa-free deals drive business overseas
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to “big families” to host weddings in India as opposed to conducting them overseas comes amid a sharp recovery.
In outbound tourism to countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, which are also popular choices for Indian destination weddings. As per a recent McKinsey report, outbound tourism in India has recorded much quicker recovery than most Asian countries, touching 61 per cent of the pre-pandemic market.
Notably, the recovery has happened despite a hike in TCS rates for overseas expenditure that became effective from October this year. With rising disposable income, expensive domestic hotel prices, and countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka removing visa restrictions for Indian tourists, couples getting hitched are increasingly looking outwards to host their weddings.
“Doing a wedding in Thailand is definitely cheaper than doing a wedding in a good hotel in Rajasthan or Goa. However, it’s not very cheap. The hotels there [in Thailand] are cheaper, but everything else is probably equal or more expensive,” Samit Garg, president of Event & Entertainment Management Association (EEMA), which represents over four hundred event management-linked companies across the country, Garg estimated a total of 500 big-ticket overseas destination weddings in 2023, a figure that matches pre-pandemic levels. Firm estimates of Indian travelling abroad for weddings are unavailable.
Garg explained that affluent families prefer to host weddings with a small guest list in faraway locations where social obligations become less important. According to him, overseas destination weddings have an average guest strength of 300-400 people, which is comparable to the national average of 285 guests per wedding as reported in the 2023 Global Wedding Report by The Knot.
“When some affluent, socially active families are celebrating weddings, they know that for functions in India, they would have to invite a thousand to three thousand people. They have realised that nobody in the family is actually able to enjoy the wedding as they have to spend time taking care of guests,” he added.
As a consequence, hosting weddings overseas in exotic locations has become an attractive value proposition for such families, even as the government has hiked the tax collected at source (TCS) rate on overseas expenditure above Rs 7 lakh to 20 per cent from 5 per cent under the Liberalised Remittances Scheme (LRS) from October onwards. For expenditure under Rs 7 lakh, no TCS is applicable as before. Furthemore, the government has also imposed a 20 per cent TCS on the purchase of overseas tour packages above Rs 7 lakh and 5 per cent for packages below Rs 7 lakh. The hike seeks to tax expensive, luxury travel at greater rates, with significant implications on overseas expenditure by affluent families.
Marrying abroad is not a trend limited to families belonging to metropolitan cities– those in Tier 2 cities are also hosting weddings overseas. A Ludhiana-based wedding planner organised a total of fifteen destination weddings this year, ten in domestic locations and five abroad. Of those abroad, three were organised in Thailand and one each in Turkey and Dubai. Thailand and the Middle East are among the top locations for both leisure tourism and destination weddings, while Europe is reserved for very affluent families. In 2022, Travel + Leisure awarded Phuket, Thailand and Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi as the two best wedding destinations for Indian couples. Governments in these countries are also actively reaching out to Indians to host weddings in their country in an effort to boost the local economy.
“Over the past decade, Thailand launched 50-plus marketing campaigns specifically for Indian consumers, travel agents, and niche businesses. For example, marketing campaigns directed at Indian wedding planners and couples positioned Thailand as a top choice for weddings and honeymoons,” noted the McKinsey report. In October, Oman’s tourism minister told a local media outlet that his ministry is specifically “targeting” Indians to promote wedding tourism in the country.
Coupled with cheaper stay options and countries allowing visa-free entry, popular overseas wedding destinations also have better infrastructure across different locations. “When you talk of doing a destination wedding within the country, there are not many options. There is just Rajasthan and Goa because nowhere else do you really have the infrastructure of hotels and other relevant things that are required. People want new choices,” Garg said.
As per WeddingWire, a popular wedding technology platform, 20 to 25 per cent of weddings in India are destination-based, slightly higher compared to the global average of 15 to 20 per cent. “Destination weddings are not just limited to international or overseas exotic locations– there is also a very strong interest for suitable locations within India,” Anam Zubair, WeddingWire’s marketing head, told The Indian Express. She added that Dehradun alone saw a 50 per cent year-on-year growth compared to 2022, surpassing Jaipur and Goa as the preferred locations. “Regarding destination weddings, both internationally and within India, the trend is on a notable upswing and we further predict that this will continue seeing positive growth in the upcoming year,” Zubair said.
Earlier this year, EEMA, in collaboration with Deloitte, submitted a strategy proposal to the Ministry of Tourism to boost destination weddings in India, for couples both abroad and at home. “The aim is also to redefine India’s perception beyond the realm of royal, extravagant weddings,” read the ministry’s press release. Creating uniformity in licences and permissions required across states and increasing access to heritage monuments are among the various suggestions in the proposal.
Confederation of All India Traders expects nearly 38 lakh weddings with a total expenditure of Rs 4.74 lakh crores in the ongoing wedding season which began on 23rd November and will go on till 15th December.