1.5 lakh weddings in 3 days: Manali hotels to woo honeymoon couples

MANALI: The wedding season may be just the shot in the arm hoteliers reeling under a slowdown need. With more than 1.5 lakh weddings being solemnized in three days, they have every reason to expect a large number of bookings for honeymoon tours next month.
Planetary alignment between Saturday and Monday happens to be particularly auspicious for marriages and around 25,000 marriages will be solemnized in Delhi alone.Sources said around 10 lakh couples from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, UP, Rajasthan and Gujarat tied the knot in November and most of them are expected to visit Manali for their honeymoon in December. Besides, office goers usually plan their honeymoon during Christmas and New Year holidays.
Hoteliers are confident that all 20,018 rooms in 610 registered hotels will be fully occupied for two weeks after December 20. They said nearly 300 couples are visiting Manali everyday and the number is increasing steadily. Even though the number of newlyweds visiting Manali in November is nearly 50% less than the corresponding period last year, thousands of inquiries are pouring in for December.
Hoteliers are all set to woo honeymooners with attractive offers and discounts. Besides advertisements, discounts up to 50% and free services are being offered to attract newlyweds. Marketing manager of hotel Chanderlok, Ankush Bhardwaj said inquiries have gone up by 50%. "We are expecting full occupancy after December 20," he said.
Ravi Thakur, owner of The Manali Lodge, said almost all queries he has been receiving are for honeymoon tours and most customers are from Delhi. "Kashmir has come up as a rival destination this time but there have been more marriages than last year. No doubt the honeymoon season will offset losses incurred over three months."
According to travel agents, snowfall in Manali is luring many couples. "Honeymooners are asking for status of snowfall in Kashmir, Manali and Shimla. Most of them want to visit hill stations where the possibility of snowfall is the highest," travel agent, Vicky Ahuja said.
Meanwhile, hotels in Manali are arranging bonfires, couple games and discos to entertain expected guests. Manali police are also preparing to tackle increased traffic flow during Christmas and New Year.