Tourism Malaysia is upping the ante and is pushing to promote major locations in the country as ideal places to host huge Indian weddings. They had recently invited a group of tour operators from India to attract wealthy Indians who want to throw unique weddings.

"Malaysia can be the next big destination, which we as wedding planners would like to promote because of the connectivity and the unique locations it has," said Manoj Kheria, co-founder of Letz Get Wed.

"It has all the elements required for a big, fat Indian wedding from grand ballrooms to sandy beaches. Malaysia has something for everyone."

"A destination wedding in Malaysia offers a beautiful mix of culture, cuisine and various contrasts," said Rahul Patni of Grand Affairs Pvt Ltd.

He added that Kuala Lumpur has a lot of great hotels, shopping and entertainment, giving couples many options to choose from to throw grander weddings.

"Malaysia is one of the hottest upcoming destinations for weddings," he said.

Malaysia is becoming more attractive to Indians because of several factors – the culture is already established here and is not too foreign; and there are daily flights from major Indian cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.

The tour operators visited hotels and resorts in Langkawi, Port Dickson and Kuala Lumpur as part of their trip held in association with AirAsia.

"The visiting group also got an opportunity to meet a few Malaysian wedding planners in Kuala Lumpur to assist them in future wedding arrangements in Malaysia," said Sulaiman Suip, director of Tourism Malaysia in New Delhi.

Weddings are a multi billion dollar business in India with an estimated 10 million weddings held yearly. They cover sectors such as hotels, catering, match-making services and jewellery. India ranks among Malaysia's top 10 tourist source markets, with 600,311 Indian tourists visiting the country last year.

Source: New Straits Times

Photo source: Malaysia Tatler