Karan Sehgal
There is no denying that Goa is a huge destination for weddings for couples in India and even outside the country. It is beach weddings, which made Goa a big brand in destination wedding market.
However, to organize a beach wedding, the planners have to run behind a number of government departments and spend their time and money in getting all the approvals.
The wedding planners say that the Tourism Department should create a single window clearance system for beach weddings, if Goa has to be one of the leading destinations for weddings.
Jerry Pinto, owner, Buzz Events, said, “The first thing you have to do to organize a beach wedding is go to Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), which takes minimum 30 days to give you a NOC. After that, you have to go to the Tourism Department. Once they give you an approval, you have to go to collector’s office, police, village panchayat and etc.”
Pinto further said that the whole process of taking all the approvals should have been digitized to help the cause of beach weddings.
He continued, “A destination wedding is a one to three days affair. No one builds a permanent structure.”
In case, a client has only a few days for his wedding, it is not possible for a planner to organize a beach wedding for him in Goa just because it takes too much time to get all the approvals.
Shruti Tiwari, owner, Vogue Luxury Weddings, said, “We have to go to so many departments to get all the approvals for a beach wedding. The Tourism Department should create a single window clearance system, which we can approach to get all the approvals.”
She continued, “Whatever fees have to be paid to get approvals for beach wedding should be paid at the single window and planners shouldn’t spend a rupee extra for approvals after that. If that happens, it will help us in marketing Goa as a place for beach weddings.”
The ongoing year has been tough for wedding planners because the number of mahurat days for weddings are a lot lesser than earlier.
This is evident because every year a number of event management companies crop up in the state. Seasoned wedding planners say that overall pie of destination business industry is not growing.
Lester Melo from Weddings and Dreams said, “We have reached our peak as a destination for weddings. Each five-star hotel does around 30-35 weddings in a year. There is a bit of drop in the market, which is due to larger economic slowdown in the country.”
Since number of five-star hotels is limited and it is not growing at a high rate, the number of destination weddings of high income clients is also limited.
While the infrastructure and facilities that Goa is not growing, the wedding planners are forced to spend too much time in taking approvals. Not just that, often unscrupulous elements pose as wedding planners, which brings a bad name to the state.
Ankit Bhargava, chief wedding planner, Regal Weddings, said, “This is really disheartening that various service providers pose as wedding planner and leave the couples disappointed by not efficiently planning and managing the most memorable event of their life.”
Bhargava continued, “There is no certification or entry barrier to become a wedding planner. New comers are always welcome but following the ethics is something, which needs to be learnt with the start of the business.”
Sources even said that it is high time the Tourism Department starts the process of registration for wedding planners. This way a lot of fly-by-night operators will be discouraged to be in the business.
Pinto said, “The govt should make it necessary for wedding planners to be registered. In order to be registered, you need to follow certain rules. Otherwise, a lot of people posing as wedding planners are only spoiling Goa’s image as a destination for weddings.”
He added, “80-85% of the so-called wedding planners don’t even have a Goods-and-Services-Tax (GST) registration. They don’t even have shops and establishment license.”
In the absence of tight regulation, everyone starts posing as a wedding planner, which affects the business of genuine planners. The need of the hour is for the government to improve the regulation in this business.
Moreover, the Tourism Dept should create a single window clearance system for beach weddings. Or else, other destinations like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam will eat into Goa’s share of destination weddings market.
