Even as tourism industry floundered during the earlier waves of Covid, Goa as a destination wedding powerhouse went from strength to strength given the ban on international travel and inaccessibility to foreign lands. The state sees @ 250 big fat Indian weddings annually and the stakeholders foresee a substantial rise in business going forward even though other foreign locations are opening up now. Paradoxically the state saw a 30% rise in business during the pandemic, it was almost as if half of India was being betrothed in Goa. The state turned out to be the venue of choice for high net worth Indians ( HNIs) because of good connectivity to source markets, many starred and super deluxe properties, availability of large inventory of rooms and a robust catering backbone. Most of India's niche clients who otherwise preferred Europe or South East Asia turned to Goa for their nuptials given the flight bans and stricter visa regimes. The government should grab this opportunity with both hands to make Goa world no1 in the niche weddings segment by providing single window clearance to event organisers and fasttrack permissions from concerned departments.
