From Heritage to Weddings: Assessing Destination Competitiveness across Rajasthan’s Tourism Circuits

Abstract

Rajasthan has traditionally been recognised as one of India's leading heritage tourism destinations because of its forts, palaces, royal architecture, cultural traditions and distinctive hospitality. In recent years, these heritage resources have increasingly been incorporated into destination wedding experiences, transforming several Rajasthan destinations into prominent wedding tourism hubs. However, the competitiveness of a wedding destination depends not only on heritage attractions but also on accessibility, accommodation, catering, transportation, safety, technology and other supporting services. Against this background, the present study examines destination competitiveness in Rajasthan from the perspective of stakeholders involved in destination wedding tourism. The study uses a quantitative research approach and employs two stages of statistical analysis. A one-sample t-test was first conducted using responses from 422 respondents to assess perceptions of seventeen destination wedding-related indicators. Multiple regression analysis was subsequently conducted using a separate sample of 104 observations to identify the destination attributes that significantly influence stakeholder perspective toward destination weddings. The t-test results show statistically significant perceptions across all seventeen indicators, with relatively high mean scores for marriage planners, destination awareness, transport and rental services, safety and security, socio-cultural prosperity and government support. The regression model was statistically significant, F(8, 95) = 6.358, p < .001, and explained approximately 34.9% of the variance in stakeholder perspective. Accessibility to the marriage destination (β = .567, p < .001) and marriage catering (β = .738, p < .001) had significant positive effects, whereas accommodation showed a significant negative coefficient (β = −.816, p < .001). Marriage location, amenities, decoration, entertainment and technical support were not statistically significant. The findings suggest that Rajasthan's heritage resources provide an important foundation for wedding tourism competitiveness, but accessibility and service-related factors play a crucial role in converting heritage attractiveness into a competitive wedding tourism experience.