Destination wedding market expected to revive in 2022

ISTANBUL

The destination wedding market in Turkey is expected to revive next year with strong demand from India, Pakistan and Russia, people from the industry have said.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has hit large events, such as fairs, congresses and weddings, over the past two years across the globe.

However, as countries are vaccinating their populations as well as other measures taken against the virus, more and more of such events are expected to be organized next year, with Turkey capturing an important share particularly in the destination wedding market, they said.

The number of tourists visiting Turkey has been on the rise, however, when Turkey starts to host more of those events next year, they will contribute greatly to the country’s tourism revenues.

Those destination weddings are big-budget events, sometimes costing millions of dollars.

Destination weddings in Turkey are expected to increase notably in 2022 as the depreciation of the Turkish Lira makes the country more attractive to organizers of those events and high-quality services offered, according to people from the industry.

There is strong demand from Russia, India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran Afghanistan and countries in the Middle East, said Heval Zengoğlu, who recently organized the Wedding Dream Art fair.

Turkey always hosted such events for years, however, they came nearly to a halt because of the pandemic, but Turkey will again be rising star of the destination weddings next year, Zenoğlu said.

Foreigners particularly want to tie the knots in Istanbul, Antalya on the Mediterranean coast, and the popular holiday destination Bodrum, according to Zengoğlu.

“Those weddings last for three days and around 300 guests attend each event. Adding guests’ spending, destination weddings generate significant amount of revenues.”

Preparations are underway for tens of wedding events already booked, she said, noting that wedding organizers are now shifting focus from traditional destinations, such as Italy, the U.S., and France to Turkey, according to Zenoğlu.

“Istanbul is now the second most preferred destination after Los Angeles,” she said.

In a speech he delivered last month at the International MICE & Wedding Forum held in Antalya, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the size of the global destination wedding market has reached around $300 billion, noting that this particular market is growing by 10 percent each year.

“Turkey hosts around 500 large-scale destination weddings. It is attracting people not only from certain parts of the world but from all countries. Per capita spending in such organizations is around $500 to $600,” Ersoy said.