Tuesday 1 February 2011

More Britons going abroad to get married


LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Prince William and Kate Middleton may have decided on a traditional British wedding but nearly a fifth of their compatriots prefer to get married abroad, according to new research.

A study by consumer research group Mintel showed on Tuesday that 18 percent of Britons chose to tie the knot abroad last year, a rise in the number of such marriages of 27 percent between 2005 and 2010.

The rise has taken place at a time when overseas travel is cheaper and as the number of weddings at home continues to fall as the price for getting married in Britain remains substantially higher than elsewhere.

An estimated 266,000 UK weddings took place in 2010 marking a 7 percent drop over the five years since 2005. In 2010, the average wedding abroad cost 6,585 pounds ($10,580), while the average British wedding costs just below 20,000 pounds.

"The lower costs of overseas weddings are an important factor for many, with cost concerns influencing the whole market," said Mintel Senior Travel and Tourism Analyst Tom Rees.

"However the various desires to do something different, seek out better weather than can be expected in the UK and to avoid overblown, too-many-guest affairs are attracting more and more couples to the weddings abroad market."

Click here to read the entire article.....

No comments: