The Da Nang Department of Tourism has just announced the message "Where happiness begins" in the communication and marketing plan for wedding destinations in Da Nang for the period 2024 - 2025. Currently, the local tourism industry has formed products and promoted them in many markets, including India and Korea.
Indian tourists surge
From January 19 to 21, at the Sheraton Grand Da Nang Resort (Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nang City), a lavish wedding party of an Indian billionaire couple took place. The host spent about 500,000 USD, booking more than 250 rooms for 3 days with nearly 500 guests and service staff and more than 1 ton of materials, costumes, and props transported from India to Da Nang.
Mr. David Ippersiel, General Manager of Sheraton Grand Da Nang Resort, said that to organize large-scale wedding events, meeting strict requirements from facilities to professional event organization services is indispensable. At the same time, the novelty and reputation of the destination are also very important criteria for the bride's family to make a choice.
In recent days, the Phu Quoc tourism community has been buzzing about a super wedding of a couple from India. Mr. Bui Quoc Thai, Director of the Department of Tourism of Kien Giang province, said that this is the wedding of an Indian billionaire held from January 20 to 23 at the Sunset Town Tourist Area of the "pearl island" with 350 guests attending, all of whom are upper class. This couple booked an entire 5-star resort in the South of the island for the 4 days of the wedding with 234 rooms, suites and villas, of which the most expensive is a 7-bedroom villa, priced at about 200 million VND/night. About 6 months ago, the couple flew to Vietnam 4 times to check out the location and evaluate the quality of service before deciding to choose this resort for their wedding.
According to the organizer, the Sangeet ceremony (bachelor ceremony) with close friends of the bride and groom was held on the evening of January 21 at the Grand Ballroom of the "art museum" Sun Signature Gallery, located in the center of Sunset Town. The wedding took place on January 22. In the morning, the couple held the Haldi ceremony, the first traditional ceremony in an Indian wedding, at the resort. Next, they will hold a Baraat procession from the resort to the wedding venue in Sunset Town by luxury cars. The wedding ceremony area is the Kiss Of The Sea stage complex with a multi-experience show, combining fire, water, and laser. In addition, the main ceremony also has a spectacular fireworks display. To prepare for the lavish parties throughout the night, the couple brought dozens of professional chefs from India to Phu Quoc and combined them with the resort's international chef team. The menu at the party will include dishes from diverse cultures such as Thai, Vietnamese, French, Mediterranean and Indian.
In March 2019, a resort in Phu Quoc was also booked to host a super wedding of a billionaire couple from India. The wedding of groom Rushang Shah and bride Kaabia Grewaly had 700 guests, all from the upper class from India and many other countries, along with more than 200 waiters. 11 events and ceremonies were held in 4 days from March 7 to 10, 2019. Two Vietjet planes were chartered to transport guests from India to Phu Quoc. Food for the wedding party was also transported by private plane.
This event caused the number of searches for hotels and flights to Vietnam by Indian tourists to skyrocket by 390% from January 2019 to mid-May 2023. In 2023, Da Nang City also saw growth in the Indian tourist market with more than 95,000 arrivals, accounting for 50% of the total number of Indian visitors to Vietnam.
The wedding of an Indian billionaire couple held at Furama Resort, Da Nang City. Photo: Nguyen Tin
Preparing for the luxury segment
To support the above wedding, the Department of Tourism of Da Nang City coordinated with units to carry out welcoming activities. Specifically, in coordination with the Da Nang International Terminal Investment and Operation Joint Stock Company - AHT, the wedding welcome message was projected on the LED screen at the entry area; facilitating the quick clearance of goods and luggage to serve the wedding ceremony. The Department of Tourism also organized the presentation of flowers and souvenirs with blessings, sending the bride's family the thanks of Da Nang City. Guests attending this wedding were also welcomed by performances of traditional Vietnamese musical instruments.
Ms. Truong Thi Hong Hanh, Director of the Department of Tourism of Da Nang City, said that the city is an attractive destination for the Indian tourist market. Along with that, a series of other strengths such as having beach resorts and many famous hotel brands are advantages for Da Nang to develop wedding tourism, especially the luxury wedding segment.
Mr. Cao Tri Dung, Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association, commented: "Da Nang has many advantages to develop wedding tourism. This is also a product to attract tourists, especially from the upper class abroad." According to Mr. Dung, Da Nang has convenient transportation, full and complete accompanying services with many 5-star hotels and large halls to accommodate large, luxurious wedding parties. Besides, Da Nang is also a city with beautiful, romantic scenery, very suitable for couples to choose for their special day. "For foreign tourists, Da Nang is a new destination. For a long time, they have chosen Bali, Phuket. Now choosing Da Nang is both an impressive and quality destination" - Mr. Dung emphasized.
Talking about the idea of developing luxury wedding tourism, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai An, Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism of Da Nang City, said that it has been nurtured by tourism workers and 2024 will be the time for service workers to grasp the market segment, develop an action plan to connect the business community, develop a service ecosystem and create a wedding destination brand in Da Nang.
In 2024, Da Nang City will open up a number of new directions for the tourism industry, including focusing on developing wedding tourism, especially attracting billion-dollar weddings from foreign tycoons.
Da Nang will hold 5 more billionaire wedding parties
According to the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center, in the coming months, there are expected to be 5 wedding events of Indian billionaires in Da Nang with a scale of 200 to 350 guests, held for 3 to 5 days. Hotels in Da Nang also received dozens of wedding events of couples from Japan and some other countries. According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh, General Director of Furama Resort, wedding parties of other international markets often prefer compact, discreet, and simple. In particular, the Indian market tends to organize long-term weddings. With wedding parties lasting up to 5 days, Furama Resort is expected to be the wedding organizer for 3 Indian couples in early 2024. These weddings are all expected to have hundreds of guests and long-term stays. B.Van
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai An, Deputy Director of Da Nang City Department of Tourism:
Implementing a pilot support program
The tourism industry is working with stakeholders and preparing content and resources for a pilot program to attract regular wedding tourists in Da Nang. The Da Nang Department of Tourism has identified that in 2024, it will strengthen promotion activities in potential markets such as India and Northeast Asia including Korea, China and Japan. The city will also invest in a number of projects to create unique wedding highlights. In addition, the department will also implement a pilot program to support attracting wedding tourists. In 2024, the Department of Tourism will proactively carry out activities to promote and advertise Da Nang tourism, focusing on wedding tourism targeting the Indian market such as participating in the SATTE India Fair, inviting Indian wedding organizers to survey and experience wedding tourism infrastructure in Da Nang.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Hoan, Head of Communications Department of Vietnam Tourism Association:
Need a strategy to serve super-rich customers
India is an emerging market, very large and potential. The fact that Indian billionaires come to Vietnam to organize weddings affirms that Vietnam has the ability to create high-quality products, high revenue despite the limited number of guests. This also shows that Vietnam meets the requirements of demanding customers, especially billionaires. The billionaires who organize events have a great influence on the media, which is a way for the media to help Vietnam reach the Indian market. In the future, it will also help communicate to the markets of the super-rich in the Middle East, Japan, Korea, Europe, America... To serve the demanding, high-paying markets like billionaires, there needs to be smooth coordination between the parties, including the Vietnamese tourism industry, local authorities of the destination, and service providers. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to communication and promotion for this group of customers. The rich need privacy. How to exploit images and how to report news requires great professionalism. It is necessary to have a strategy to serve super-rich customers, starting with market research, supporting localities in evaluating and reviewing criteria, service standards, training human resources, criteria on ensuring security, protecting personal privacy...
Dr. Vo Huu Hoa, Institute of Hospitality and Tourism - Duy Tan University:
Need specialized support units
Attracting billionaire wedding tourism in Da Nang City still lacks some factors such as policies and support, no separate promotion model and lack of specialized units related to this type. The fact that some billionaires have come to Da Nang to hold weddings recently is due to brokerage units. Meanwhile, the city has many advantages. The city needs to take advantage of this opportunity to attract tourists and restructure the tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic.
B.Van - Y.Anh
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