Making Vietnam a regional and world wedding tourism destination

Wedding of an Indian couple at Vinpearl Resort & Spa Ha Long ( Quang Ninh ).

Wedding tourism can be understood as a form of organizing a wedding far away, instead of choosing hotels or wedding halls near home, the bride, groom and guests will go to a domestic or foreign tourist destination to celebrate the wedding and relax.

In Vietnam, the concept of “wedding tourism” has been mentioned a lot since an Indian billionaire couple decided to choose Phu Quoc (Kien Giang) to hold their wedding ceremony in March 2019, witnessed by 700 guests from many countries. JW Marriott Phu Quoc, where this “million dollar” wedding took place, later became a wedding destination for many upper-class couples, and for 5 consecutive years (2019 - 2023) won the category “ World’s Leading Luxury Wedding Resort” of the World Travel Awards - an award considered the Oscar of the tourism industry.

Along with Phu Quoc, Da Nang is also proving to be an outstanding destination in Vietnam for wedding tourism. Since the beginning of 2024, Da Nang has continuously welcomed super-rich Indians to hold weddings. In January, there was a wedding at Sheraton Grand Danang, with a scale of nearly 500 guests and service staff, mobilizing all 258 rooms; in February, there was a wedding at Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa with 200 guests; in early March, there was a wedding at Danang Marriot Resort and Spa with more than 400 guests, using 650 rooms. Also in February, another Indian couple surprised everyone by holding a "super wedding" in Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh) with more than 600 guests.

Not only attracting international visitors, wedding tourism is also becoming a trend that many famous people in the country are interested in. These are positive signals showing the great prospects of this potential market segment; at the same time, it also affirms that Vietnam has full advantages to develop wedding tourism with many beautiful beaches, rich heritage systems, high-class resorts, diverse cuisine, friendly people, increasingly in-depth investment in infrastructure and services... Along with Phu Quoc, Da Nang, Ha Long, many other destinations such as Nha Trang, Hoi An, Sa Pa, Da Lat... are also ideal places to organize wedding tourism.

Although it is a relatively new “field”, it is easy to see that wedding tourism can bring a significant source of profit to Vietnam’s green economy, because the tourists who choose this form of tourism combined with wedding organization are usually those with financial conditions, willing to spend a large amount of money on the most important event of their life. Moreover, the weddings of foreign couples often have the participation of hundreds of guests from many places around the world.

In addition to using accommodation, dining and shopping services at the chosen wedding venue, many of them also plan to extend their trip to have a deeper travel experience. Not to mention, through the sparkling images shared by many wedding guests on social networks, the image of the country, people and culture of Vietnam also has the opportunity to be promoted and spread widely.

For the bride and groom themselves, when the wedding brings emotional satisfaction and unforgettable impressions, they will not hesitate to return to Vietnam many times in their lives on wedding anniversaries or any suitable time to recall beautiful memories. Obviously, developing wedding tourism brings double benefits in both revenue and communication, helping to attract more tourists.

In recent years, wedding tourism products have been focused on development by many Asian countries, especially Southeast Asian countries, thanks to taking advantage of natural resources, culture and reasonable organization costs.

Not only does Vietnam have opportunities thanks to the growth of wedding tourism in general in the region, but it also has advantages from the interest of many potential markets such as Korea, Japan, China, especially India - a country with a wedding market value of more than 45 billion USD in 2022 and estimated to reach 100 billion USD in 2025.

Identifying this as a “gold mine” that needs to be exploited, destinations with strengths in wedding tourism resources in our country are focusing many resources to promote this segment. The most active is Da Nang.

In addition to coordinating with relevant parties to develop a pilot program to attract regular wedding tourists, this coastal city has announced the message "Where happiness begins" in the communication and marketing plan for the wedding destination of Da Nang in the period of 2024 - 2025.

A representative of the Da Nang Department of Tourism said that wedding tourism is being promoted in the promotion and advertising activities of Da Nang tourism, focusing on the Indian market. In order to make a good impression on couples choosing Da Nang as a wedding venue, the city's Department of Tourism has worked with other units to immediately implement a series of welcoming activities, such as: collaborating with the Da Nang International Terminal Investment and Operation Joint Stock Company - AHT to project a wedding welcome message on the LED screen at the entry area; coordinating with the authorities at the airport to support and facilitate the quick clearance of goods and luggage for the wedding; presenting flowers, souvenirs, blessings, and thanks from Da Nang city to the bride and groom's families; and "treating" guests attending the wedding with traditional Vietnamese musical instruments.

Compared to some countries in the region such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, our country is behind in developing wedding tourism. Therefore, to improve competitiveness in this segment, Vietnam needs to be more professional in service provision.

Speaking about this, Mr. David Ippersiel, General Manager of Sheraton Grand Da Nang Resort and Convention Center, said that to organize large-scale wedding events, meeting strict requirements from facilities to event organization is indispensable. In addition, the novelty and reputation of the destination are also important criteria for couples to decide on a place to hold their wedding ceremony.

Therefore, along with promoting communication at the national and local levels, our country also needs to form a complete ecosystem for wedding tourism. Mr. Cao Tri Dung, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, commented: Many destinations with potential for wedding tourism in our country still face limitations in connecting direct flights with international wedding markets, while not all couples can rent a plane for the entire flight.

We still lack professional wedding consulting, planning and organizing units; there are also no large specialized restaurants capable of meeting the culinary needs of large groups of guests, such as India, leading to the fact that when organizing weddings, visitors are forced to bring their own chefs or food. These are barriers that Vietnam needs to find solutions to overcome if it wants to become a "wedding tourism paradise" in the region.

Besides, according to Mr. Dung, guests of "super weddings" often have many different nationalities, so visa policies for these groups also need to be more open and flexible to enhance the attractiveness of the destination.

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