Sleeping rooms are hotels’ bread and butter. But what if I told you there’s a market segment that needs:

• sleeping rooms
• off peak and weekend function space
• open bar
• capacity for 300+ guests
• space for multiple days of events
• and is willing to pay outside catering fees

This is the profile of the South Asian (aka Indian wedding) market.  So what does this means for hotels? Profit & better utilization.

• profitable – South Asian weddings require outside catering and most include a lunch and a dinner. And clients are willing to pay, per person outside catering fees for both, which is very profitable for hotels. (And I haven’t even talked about sleeping rooms yet.)
• sleeping rooms – Since weddings are multi-day affairs that means hotel room blocks for at least 2 nights.
• open bar – most weddings have a premium, hosted, open bar.
• off peak – function space occupancy on long weekends that others shy away from. Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and all long weekends are the most popular for South Asian weddings.
• better marketing spend – The average South Asian wedding budget is $100,000. That’s almost 4x more than the average budget for a Western wedding. Moreover, the biggest single ‘chunk’ of the budget goes to the venue. Therefore hotels’ marketing spend, targeting this segment is more efficient – 4x more efficient.

Growing Industry & Affluent Community

• $5B industry (USA)
• 69.37% population growth which means this communities growing needs are hotels’ opportunity.
• South Asians are English speaking, and the most highly educated and affluent ethnic group in the US.

Hotels that are not marketing to the South Asian community, are leaving money on the table.

Samta Varia is the Founder & CEO of ShaadiShop. ShaadiShop markets wedding venues directly to the South Asian community. ‘Shaadi’ = wedding/marriage in Hindi.

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Cover Photo: Aaron Eye Photography