An insightful panel discussion titled ‘Unleashing Wedding Bonanza for Destinations’ was held at recently concluded SATTE 2025 in New Delhi. Gathered panellists shared their insights, highlighting the significant and increasing contributions of the wedding industry to India’s economy and tourism sector.
An estimated 10 million weddings are conducted annually in India. As per Future Market Insights (a market research organization), the global wedding tourism market is projected to surge from $34 billion in 2024 to $119 billion by 2034, with a 13.3 per cent CAGR. Today, driven by the rapid expansion of India’s wedding industry, wedding tourism is experiencing explosive growth and highlights the pervasive demand for weddings that are not just events, but curated, exceptional and unforgettable experiences.
The omnipresent connectivity of digital age has fundamentally reshaped the Indian wedding, transforming destination weddings from a niche aspiration to a mainstream reality. This evolution is driven by a strong blend of technological accessibility and aspirations inspired by socially shared images. While wedding planning websites now handle all the complexities of wedding planning, social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, curate a visual narrative of idyllic wedding destinations. The influence of high-profile weddings, where celebrities and affluent individuals set new standards of opulence, further amplifies this trend.
However, this shift is not just about exclusivity. It reflects a deeper cultural evolution, where constant digital exposure has cultivated a potent desire for personalized, experiential celebrations that are completely different from traditional, large-scale Indian weddings.
As India’s wedding economy expands fast, it also offers tremendous growth opportunities for the country’s travel and hospitality industry to tap. It is in this context that an insightful panel discussion titled ‘Unleashing Wedding Bonanza for Destinations’ was held at recently concluded SATTE 2025 in New Delhi. Gathered panellists shared their insights, highlighting the significant and increasing contributions of the wedding industry to India’s economy and tourism sector.
Moderated by Navneet Mendiratta, Vice President, PR & Media at Think Strawberries, the session discussed new developments, opportunities and challenges in wedding tourism. The discussion also covered the country’s ‘Wed in India’ campaign and relevance for the country’s tourism sector in general and for wedding industry in particular. Speakers on the panel included Prerana Agarwal Saxena, Chair of the EEMA Wedding Council at Theme Weavers; Manuj Ralhan, General Manager, Jaipur Exhibition & Convention Centre (JECC) and Novotel Jaipur Convention Centre, Accor; Vinayak Saboo, Managing Partner at Paradise Group India and Chetan Vohra, Chair, FICCI Wedding Tourism Taskforce and Managing Director, Weddingline.
Discussing the scale of India’s wedding industry, Saxena, stated, “I would call India as a wedding-driven economy. It is a vast sector encompassing numerous interconnected industries. The wedding industry extends beyond event planners and venue providers; it also incorporates sectors such as jewellery, textiles and others. Its larger scope makes it exceptionally challenging to accurately quantify the industry’s overall value.” She further said that while the figure of US $50 billion is frequently cited, some reports estimate the value of the Indian wedding industry at 10 lakh crore rupees (US $ 110 billion). “So it is very difficult to accurately estimate the value of the Indian wedding industry.”
Talking about India’s aspiration to become a leading global wedding destination, she said, “We have been working with the Ministry of Tourism, providing them recommendations for a draft wedding tourism policy, with the aim of making India as a leading global wedding destination. Given that weddings represent a significant area of expenditure for many, India’s rapidly expanding wedding industry presents a substantial opportunity to attract international wedding tourism and solidify its position as a top global wedding destination in the coming years.”
Sharing his insights of how Rajasthan’s hospitality sector, particularly its capital Jaipur, is doing in wedding segment, Ralhan, said that a typical hotel in Jaipur hosts, on average, between 25 to 30 weddings annually, however, a hotel located along the Delhi road corridor hosts approximately 60 to 70 weddings per year.
“We opened last year, and this is our first full year of operation, during which we aim to host about 50 weddings. This shows the current growth trajectory of the wedding industry. Previously, it used to take hotels 10 to 12 years of market presence to host 25 to 30 weddings annually,” stated Ralhan, adding that the wedding industry has grown tremendously in the last few years. “This is what we are experiencing as a hospitality operator in Rajasthan,” he added.
Infra Scene
Physical infrastructure such as hotels, venues, roads and airports play a critical role in the emergence of a place as a wedding destination, so the panel also discussed this aspect of destination weddings. Talking about the availability of the right wedding infrastructures like banquets or hotel rooms and such other facilities, Saxena remarked, “Historically, weddings were private events, typically held in intimate settings. However, now couples desire to share their weddings publicly, leading to a growing trend of destination weddings, and therefore requirement of developed infrastructure and connectivity.”
Regarding infrastructure, Ralhan of JECC said that road infrastructure has improved significantly in recent years, and the number of venues has also grown. “We have adequate infrastructure to support destination weddings. However, one of the key challenges is air connectivity, which, although it has improved, still has a lot of gaps. In the last five years, the number of airports has almost doubled, but we need to open more airports in the country,” he said.
“It is due to improved infrastructure that Jaipur for the first time is to host IIFA awards at JECC’s venue, which did not happened before in the city,” said Ralhan. “We are moving in the right direction as far as the development of infrastructure is concerned, but we still need to improve in some areas. For example, we must focus on cleanness at public spaces to get more international weddings,” he added.
Challenges of SAYA dates
However, Saxena said that wedding planners do have to face the challenge of finding venues for their clients during SAYA dates (traditional auspicious days for Hindu weddings). “As everyone wants to hold their wedding on SAYA dates, finding venues for those days becomes very challenging,” said Saxena. She underlined the need to popularise the idea that every day on the calendar is auspicious, and therefore, weddings can be held any day as per convenience of couples and their families.
“Once people in large number start having their weddings on none-SAYA dates, it would be good for everyone, for customers, for venues, for hotels, for wedding planers and event mangers. Then weddings can be held all over the year,” said Saxena. She added that while the trend to organise weddings on non-SAYA days is growing, the idea needs to be made a mainstream trend. “The message that Har Din Shubh Hai’ (every day is auspicious) should be promoted to encourage weddings throughout year,” she suggested.
According to Saxena, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) hold great potential for wedding tourism in India because most of them are open to hosting weddings on non-SAYA dates, thus allowing for year-round bookings. “This year-round potential can lead to more consistent hotel occupancy, and competitive pricing, allowing negotiation for more favourable pricing with hotels,” she added. By promoting the concept that ‘every day is auspicious,’ India can encourage year-round weddings, not only among NRIs but also domestically, thereby boosting tourism and hospitality during traditionally slower periods and stabilizing customer flow for the industry.
Drawing from his experiences, Ralhan discussed the cost variations between weddings held on auspicious SAYA dates and non-SAYA dates, “A typical two-day wedding on an auspicious SAYA date at our hotel cost on an average two crore rupees. However, on non-SAYA dates, the price is drastically reduced to about 50 lakh rupees. This represents a 75 per cent fall in the price, making our venue accessible to a wider range of budgets,” said Ralhan, adding that this strategy has been highly successful. It significantly increases bookings for non-SAYA dates and help generate business throughout the year.
Service Standards for Weddings
Moving to an important wedding-related concern, Mendiratta asked the panellists if maintaining standard hotel service was challenging during weddings, given the larger number of guests, and if compromises were made. Agreeing that hotels and venues generally have to make compromises for large events, Ralhan said that their Novotel Convention Centre in Jaipur stands apart. “It is a world-class property in every aspect such as rooms, venues, and services. Our venues are spectacular; our lobby is massive, larger than those at the Four Seasons in Bangalore and Mumbai. From a service perspective, we provide ultra-luxury experiences but that does not necessarily mean charging excessively high prices,” Ralhan asserted,
Moreover, “Rajasthan, a state that is synonymous with royalty and renowned for its grand palaces and outstanding hospitality, naturally sets high expectations for its hotels. Therefore, our focus is first and foremost on upholding the standards of Jaipur and Rajasthan, and then on our brand,” said Ralhan, adding, “We strive to provide superlative service, understanding that exceptional experiences are not solely about price.” Ralhan said that as Rajasthan has a strong hospitality culture, it helps hotels provide excellent service. “Additionally, we also train our staff for service excellence,” he added.
Asserting that Rajasthan does have a superb culture of delivering superb services and experiences, Saboo, said that the state has every perfect ingredient for a perfect wedding: infrastructure, state-of-the art venues, warm hospitality along with its tradition of delivering exceptional services.
“At the same time understanding the specific service needs of Indian weddings is crucial, as they are highly aspirational events for which families save significantly, viewing them as once-in-a-lifetime experiences,” said Saboo. He added that in India, weddings represent the second-largest expenditure after housing; hotels should recognize this fact when delivering services during weddings and create personalized and memorable experiences that exceed guest expectations.
Wed in India
Vohra talked about the ‘Wed in India’ campaign. He said that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about it for the first time in his radio address ‘Mann Ki Baat’ last year, people initially got worried that they would not be able to host their weddings in other countries. “But that wasn’t true. PM Modi wanted more Indian weddings to happen within India, and that India becomes a leading wedding destination globally,” said Vohra.
‘Wed in India’ is a new campaign of the Ministry of Tourism, after the ‘Incredible India’ campaign that had showed the world how beautiful India is. “After a decade of development in terms of hotels, infrastructure, and other amenities, the Government saw a significant opportunity in the wedding sector, targeting a 50-billion dollar market,” said Vohra. He added that the ‘Wed in India’ campaign has proven successful, attracting approximately 300 international weddings in its initial phase, and this is just the beginning. “It should be clear that ‘Wed in India’ doesn’t restrict overseas weddings; it is simply an invitation to consider India,” he concluded.
While challenges such as steep demands for bookings of SAYA dates and air connectivity gaps remain, the overall sentiment was optimistic during the discussion. India is well-positioned to solidify its position as a premier global wedding destination in coming years.
