Tourism Malaysia Promotes 'Big, Fat Weddings' For Punjab's Ludhianvis

By M. Saraswathi LUDHIANA (Punjab, India), April 3 (Bernama) -- Taking advantage of Punjab's Ludhianvis who indulge in big, fat weddings, Tourism Malaysia is promoting Malaysia as a hot destination for such no-frills-spared event. Ludhiana is the largest city in Punjab, India. "We have a number of gurudwaras in Malaysia and thus, we have all the arrangements for a Punjabi marriage there," Tourism Malaysia’s Deputy Director (New Delhi) Chandra Sehgaran was quoted as saying by The Times of India on Monday. He said, over 700,000 Indian tourists visited Malaysia every year. "Now, we want to promote Malaysia as a wedding destination, as well," he said. Banking on the Punjabi wedding market, Achinto Bose, marketing manager of Tourism Malaysia, said: "With the wedding market growing bigger and fatter each day, I am quite sure that people of Ludhiana are not going to lag behind. "We are hopeful to book many weddings and functions from this city." "Ludhiana is known for its lavish weddings and affluence and this is what attracted us to this city," Shenaiyan wedding planner and director in Malaysia, Keshika Advani was quoted as saying. "The response is amazing and we already have 25 queries for weddings in Malaysia. Out of these, we have one query each for a bachelor's party and anniversary celebrations," she said. She said the packages being offered for weddings in Malaysia began from Rs50,000 (US$982.77) per head, inclusive of sight-seeing and stay for three nights and four days, excluding air fare. The locations offered for the marriages include beaches, hill stations and prominent cities. -- BERNAMA