look news india
With the onset of winter season, preparations for grand weddings are in full swing across the country, but this time the hustle and bustle being witnessed in the Indian hotel industry has left all previous records behind. Just weeks before the start of the winter wedding season, a huge jump of more than 10 to 15 per cent has been recorded in the booking of banquet halls, lawns and rooms for wedding ceremonies in the country’s leading luxury hotels, heritage palaces and vacation resorts. For the peak demand months—especially November and February—bookings are almost 100% full at select wedding destinations in Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Goa and North India. Hotel industry experts say that the auspicious time of weddings and increase in festive expenses have given unprecedented financial strength to the hospitality sector.
The most unique and surprising thing about this wedding season is that people are booking dates not only for the current year or next year 2026-27, but from now till the end of the year 2027. According to hoteliers, due to the fear of missing out on their favorite venue and auspicious wedding dates, families are now depositing advance token money to book the entire township or resort 12 to 18 months in advance. According to the management of Marriott International’s ‘Noor MahalDelhi NCR’, they are witnessing a straight growth of 15 per cent in wedding business compared to last year and are continuously receiving inquiries and advance reservations for dates till November 2027. This long-term advance booking is unprecedentedly helping hotel chains accurately forecast revenue and capacity planning for the next two years.
The major change in the basic format of Indian wedding ceremonies is also increasing the profits of the hotel industry manifold. Now families are preferring to have an entire residential wedding lasting 2 to 3 days instead of limiting themselves to just an evening reception or varmala event. It requires different themed venues for mehendi, sangeet, cocktail night, pheras and post-wedding brunch. Additionally, there is a growing craze for personalized experiences among couples—which include customized menus for guests, organic and international food counters, wellness and spa sessions and live performances by traditional folk artists. About 55 to 60 percent of the total annual revenue of large luxury hotels and palace properties now comes directly from wedding ceremonies and their associated ancillary services.
According to leading hospitality brands like Roseate Hotels & Resorts and Radisson Hotel Group, there is a scramble for winter slots at properties in Delhi, Gurugram, Karnal, Udaipur, Jaipur and Goa. In traditional heritage cities like Udaipur and Jaipur, the situation is such that despite 20 to 30 per cent rise in per plate and per room rates in many palatial properties, corporates and high-net-worth families have booked the entire premises months in advance. Instead of getting married abroad i.e. international destination wedding, people are now preferring to choose palaces and beach-front resorts with world-class facilities within India, due to which domestic tourism and local hospitality vendors are also getting direct business worth billions of rupees.
The impact of full room booking in hotels is not limited to just the room tariff, rather it has a direct multiplier effect on the entire wedding ecosystem. When a wedding takes place in a hotel, along with it, premium catering, flower decoration, sound-light production, fleet of luxury cars, photography and gifting industry also get record orders. Apart from this, due to destination weddings, there has also been a sharp jump in the demand for group ticketing and chartered flights in domestic flights. Lakhs of weddings are expected to be organized across the country in the upcoming winter wedding season, which is going to be the biggest catalyst in the growth rate of the Indian retail and service sector.