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Looking beyond temple tourism and Buddhist circuits, the Odisha government is now eying to promote the state for destination weddings and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) tourism. The state has a lot to offer when it comes to the tourism sector. It has a long coastline, beautiful temples, wildlife, natural beauty, ecotourism destinations, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, and dams. Domestic tourists visit these sites around the year, an officer said. As the state seeks to evolve beyond its traditional offerings, it is positioning itself to become a premier hub for high-profile weddings and business events, rivalling the likes of Rajasthan's royal cities, Goa and Kerala, the officer from the state tourism department said. The department has decided to promote popular beach towns such as Puri and Konark in Puri district and Gopalpur in Ganjam district as sites for destination weddings, big meetings and conferences, tourism director Samarth Verma told PTI. "These plac
The wedding industry has not been taken seriously in the past but now it needs certain regulations, WedMeGood Founder Mehak Shahani said. "For example, the cash component has to come down," she said. Mehak was speaking with PTI on the sidelines of an event where WedMeGood -- a wed-tech platform that was established in 2014 -- unveiled the country's top 50 wedding venues. Further, she said the current year might see a "normalisation of rates", especially those pertaining to destination weddings. "The hospitality sector has increased prices by 10 per cent year-on-year (for the past few years). And not just weddings, travel in the country in general has become more expensive post-Covid. "And I think 2025 might see a normalisation... a lot of people are now saying that it's cheaper to organise a destination wedding in Thailand than in Goa. That is unsustainable," she added. On the change in mindset regarding weddings in the past few years, Mehak said, "Couples have become aspirationa
Marriages might be made in heaven but for those on the earth, the occasion to celebrate the exchange of vows is back to being an expensive affair. And no one's complaining. Not too long ago, the world watched in awe as business tycoon Mukesh Ambani's son Anant Ambani tied the knot with Radhika Merchant in a whopping Rs 5,000-crore affair. While those are astronomical numbers, the middle class and upper middle class, too, joined the party through 2024 and the lull in the wedding market seen in 2020-2021 appears to be a thing of the past. According to a Justdial report released on December 24, metropolitan cities drove 34 per cent growth in demand for wedding services with the national capital dominating with a 44 per cent rise in wedding searches and 4x surge in resort venue searches. Till November this year, wedding budgets saw a 6.7 per cent increase year-on-year with the average spend at Rs 35.6 lakh, according to a survey done by all-in-one wedding planning solutions provider ..