“Marriage is one of life’s major celebratory events,” says Tourism icon, Otunba Olawanle Akinboboye as he releases ‘Honeymoon Packages For Domestic & Int’l market,’ as his Tourism Product For Week 45.
“This fact has led to the growth of an expansive wedding industry, that makes use of the services of a host of supporting businesses, that includes but are not limited to fashion designers, media houses, printers, party planners, florists, event decorators, caterers, hotels and resorts.”
Over the years, the manner in which weddings have been celebrated throughout the world has become more expansive and often involves both pre and post wedding events, that include bridal showers, stag nights and honeymoons.
The rise of social media has also led to a situation where young couples are constantly looking to incorporate unique events in their weddings that can subsequently be posted on Tik – Tok or Instagram and hopefully generate likes and recognition.
The wedding industry in the United States is estimated to be worth about $70.5 billion. It encompasses cultural and social elements and has become an economic giant. It has given birth to a range of bridal specific items that includes bridal magazines, bridal dresses and other wedding specific attire, wedding cakes and honeymoon packages.
Otunba Akinboboye noted that honeymoons, which are holidays taken by newly weds post their wedding are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic.
As an aside, Otunba Akinboboye then noted that there were many stories relating to the origin of the word honeymoon. One school of thought attributed it to the 5th century BC Babylonians, who apparently gave the bride’s father a month’s worth of mead (an alcoholic honey drink) to ensure his daughter’s happiness (and to make him forget how much he spent on the wedding). This month was called the “honey month”, which eventually evolved into the “honeymoon”. Others trace the name to the ancient Norse term “hjunottsmanathr,” which means to “honey month”. This tradition involved a period of seclusion for the newlyweds, possibly to evade the bride’s family’s scrutiny, while the couple settled into the first days of married life.
Otunba Akinboboye revealed that internationally, popular honeymoon destinations included the Carribean, the Maldives, Thailand and Bali. The attraction of these places for honeymooners from the US and Europe is their balmy weather, access to the sea and tropical beaches as well as the relaxed pace of life in those areas.
Otunba Akinboboye noted that North American honeymooners spend an average of US$4,466 on their honeymoons, or three times the average budget for a family vacation in the US (Sardone, 2018).
He expressed the view that, if Nigerian newly weds wanted to travel outside of the country for their honeymoon, no matter how short a period they spend millions of Naira. However they could spend their honeymoon in Nigeria and still enjoy a once in a lifetime experience.
He also mentioned that Nigeria would benefit from foreign exchange flows if international honeymooners pick Nigeria as their honeymoon destination.
Honeymoon tourism, which has grown rapidly in past decades, is a profitable segment in the tourism industry. Global honeymoon tourism has been estimated at 5.5 billion trips annually (South Pacific Tourism Organization, 2015)
In Otunba Akinboboye’s opinion there were a number of hotels and resorts in Nigeria that are perfect locations for honeymoons and which could offer honeymoon packages at different price points not only to Nigerian residents but to international tourists. These includes hotels and resorts at Ikogosi, Obudu, Kaduna, Abuja as well as La Campagne Tropicana Resorts at Ikegun Lagos and Ondo.
He then noted that honeymoon packages needed to be specially curated so that they could provide a once in a lifetime experience to the newly weds that patronize them.
In designing such packages there would be a need for specially decorated honeymoon suites, flowers, wine and special meals. There is also the need to provide the couple with the privacy they require after the stress of their wedding.
Otunba Akinboboye mentioned that young tourist practitioners could work with existing hotels and Resorts to come up with innovative and unique honeymoon experiences and packages .
This would set the pace and create a tourism product that could be enjoyed by both domestic and foreign tourists. It would also create employment opportunities for young Nigerians, while increasing the income flows available to the Nigerian tourism industry.
“By creating and offering unique honeymoon packages that take advantage of our weather, natural geography, food and style, we would once again be taking ‘advantage of our advantages’ to grow a viable Nigerian tourism industry,” added Otunba Akinboboye.
