The Sheraton Macao Hotel in Macao is targeting the Indian wedding segment in a major way, a senior official of the group said Friday.
Ruth Boston, general manger, sales and marketing, also said the meetings, incentive, conferences and exhibition (MICE) market from India is on the upswing.
"We are now looking seriously at the Indian wedding market now. Earlier we had to turn down some such enquiries as the priority was the MICE segment and we had to strengthen our kitchen section to cater to the Indian wedding market," Boston told IANS here.
According to Boston, the hotel now has four Indian chefs to take care of the Indian cuisine. The hotel's 24-hour restaurant offers good range of Indian dishes, she said.
Boston said several Chinese celebrities had their weddings in the hotel.
"We are currently in talks with three Indian families - two from India and another settled in Manila - for holding their weddings," Gagan Gupta, account director, sales, told IANS.
A former Portugal colony, Macao is one of the two special administrative regions of China, the other being Hong Kong. The region is highly dependent on tourism and a noted centre for casinos.
Queried as to why Indians should come to Macao for weddings when there are places like Mauritius, Boston said: "One of the key things that Macao offers which other centres do not is the entertainment for the newly weds and their families. Macao offers entertainment, shopping and several UNESCO listed heritage sites."
Boston said a lot of information technology (IT), pharmaceuticals and automobile companies showing interest in having their MICE events.
"A couple of Indian companies whose names I cannot disclose had already held their events in our hotel and there are more enquiries," Boston said.
She said Macao is well connected by air with three Indian cities -- Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
She said Sheraton Macao Hotel, the largest Sheraton hotel in the world, is further expanding by adding 105 suites. The new suites will be ready during the first quarter of 2016.
According to her, several other new hotels are also coming up in Macao which would increase the tourist inflow.
"Earlier travel agents used to sell two nights in Hong Kong and one night in Macao. Now it is the reverse," she said.
