SALES & MARKETING
Table settings for a wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Resort of Naples
too . “ They ’ re looking at everything digitally now ,” he says . As a result , his resort has increased marketing and advertising on digital channels .
Hotels in popular destinations such as beachfront locales are also seeing guests stay for longer amounts of time when attending a hotel wedding . And in cases where money is no object for the couple , hotel buy-outs are an increasingly preferred option for safety reasons .
Even as travel and events look uncertain for 2022 , spending for weddings in India is still strong , says Vijay Thacker , managing director of Horwath HTL , Mumbai . “ Hosts are willing to pay an additional price to ensure better compliance with norms and health requirements , including for larger rooms that are strictly needed for the event size .”
Indeed , several event managers are seeing strong demand for 2022 , especially as people regroup to celebrate postponed events from 2020 and 2021 . Profits may have been squeezed a little compared to 2019 and the boom years before the pandemic , but many hotels are already lining up rebookings as well as new weddings .
“ Our inquiries are at an all-time high ,” Marusi says . “ We are hiring more social catering managers as well as marketing managers to keep this momentum . We have completely changed our brand with all new digital assets and collateral . The future looks bright .”
MAKING IT WORK Flexibility is key to staging the actual weddings , says Lydia Redmond , the longtime director of wedding sales at the Ritz-Carlton Resort of Naples , which typically handles 60 to 80 weddings a year . “ With last minute guest count changes becoming the norm , we are closely working with our couples to ensure food and beverage minimums are being met , without paying for guests who could not attend with a moment ’ s notice .”
Jordan Dukehart , catering sales manager at the Noelle Nashville , a Tribute Portfolio Hotel in Tennessee , agrees that the lastminute adjustment of guests has forced the hotel to be nimble with their wedding set-ups , which include both indoor and outdoor spaces . “ We recently experienced a situation where we had to adjust a 100-person event to a 25-person event due to unforeseen circumstances ,” she says .
In India , where weddings often consist of a few hundred guests , the guestlist has been scaled back dramatically due to safety regulations , but the ceremonies are still happening .
“ Indians are known the world over to host big fat Indian weddings ,” says Parveen Chander Kumar , senior vice president of sales and marketing at IHCL Hotels , Mumbai . “ During the pandemic , the wedding bookings didn ’ t slow down , just the size was reduced as per state government guidelines .” To accommodate guests that couldn ’ t attend because of such restrictions , IHCL Hotels enabled live-streams of the services and provided catering from their new food delivery platform , Qmin .
116 hotelsmag . com November / December 2021