Arun Ram & Don Sebastian.
Chennai. Thiruvananthapuram.
Daniele Federico, 28, is a true globetrotter. He does business in
Florence, base-jumping in Frankfurt, and snorkelling in Blue Bay, Australia.
Next month, he will carry his reputation a step further by marrying his fiancee,
Agatha Dorotea, in Jaipur.
 The
wedding, to be arranged by a Coimbatore-based travel agent, will be complete with
a Ganesh puja as well as the rituals of grah santhi and parchan. Thereafter, the
couple will set out to explore one of the several tempting honeymoon destinations
in the country.
"Foreigners are generally so taken in by Indian
traditions that they want some of it in their lives," says B Irudayaraj of
Pearls Tours and Travels, which is preparing a Ra-jasthani marriage for an Italian
couple. He continued: "While some foreigners bring their relatives for
the weddings, more often than not, we have to organise a local audience to make
the wedding look complete. They find in India a tradition that sees marriage as
the most sacred tie of life. The vast range of scenic locales adds to the honeymoon
attraction."
"The honeymoon market for foreigners is booming,
thanks to bigger disposable incomes, improved connectivity, and low-cost
airlines," says Heena Akhtar, COO of TravelPort, a Pune-based travel agent.
"Bollywood weddings play a part in influencing brides and grooms from abroad.
The honeymoon packages on offer in Mumbai alone are worth Rs2,000 crore."
Travelport has launched a 'Super Honeymoon' package to lure foreigners with promises
of "special surprises and gifts to keep passion ignited".
Kerala has been the pioneer in packaging its tourist spots for the NRI and foreign
wedding groups. Last year, the Kumarakom resort built a 'kalyana mandapam' atop
a houseboat to host the weddings of an American couple and another from Sri Lanka.
"This year, we organised two NRI weddings with each group having 300 to 600
members. A group from Ireland opted for a week-long tour of Kerala after the wedding,"
says Akhtar.
Tamil Nadu, too, seems interested in jumping on the
bandwagon. "Tamil Nadu, which has two hill stations (Ooty and Kodaikanal),
has been a natural honeymoon destination for Indians and foreigners. Now we plan
to market it as a special package," says V Irai Anbu, Tamil Nadu tourism
secretary. |
