Travel Agent - August 27, 2007 - (Page DW2) Destination Weddings SPECIALIST 2.0 Engaging The Client to arrive a few days early before they can marry anyway. (see page 16). Couples will also enjoy seeing their guests the day after the wedding to discuss it all, so include a postwedding day brunch. You benefit from addiY tional room nights booked as guests make a true vacation of it. Left: Bahamas Tourist Office; Right: Super Clubs T A destination wedding is, simply put, a marriage ceremony that takes place in a locale in which the bride and groom have traveled to get there. But while the definition may be simple, the market for this product is quite complex. Destination weddings can essentially be anything your bride and groom want them to be, limited only by budget and marriage license requirements. That includes flowers, photography, music, videos, the reception and more. What Price, Wedded Bliss? a W A Travel Industry Association of America study entitled “Leisure Travel Planning: How Consumers Make Travel Decisions,” which endeavors to help agents and other industry professionals better understand the decisionmaking among leisure travelers in the U.S., noted among its findings that these travelers generally decide where they want to go and for how long before they consider what it will all cost. Honeymoon couples are an extreme example of this, having been known to shell out as much as three times the amount that they would usually spend on a vacation. It follows that such couples would be more concerned with making sure that their destination wedding be the experience of a lifetime that it should be and would therefore be willing to pay handsomely to ensure this is so. That doesn't mean they won’t scrutinize; it is your job to show them how much value they are getting for the price. You, the agent, will have a lot of work to do to meet their needs, but it will be worth it, not only for the big commission and/or fees, but also in repeat business and potential new business from members of the wedding party, either directly of from word-of-mouth advertising. Honeymoon Time Your couples will want their friends and family around them before and during the festivities, but want alone time for their honeymoon. Send the bride and groom to another part of the island, a different more intimate or upscale hotel, or even to another part of the region, post-nuptials, if guests plan to extend their stays. In Hawaii, for example, let them take a short flight to another island to enjoy quiet time together. Think Groups The intimate destination wedding that includes just the bride and groom is still popular, but surprisingly, the average number of guests attending destination weddings is 63, according to Condé Nast Bridal Group’s 2006 American Wedding Study. Take advantage of group rates for hotel rooms and airfare. Encourage the couple to send out a “Save the date” letter with your business card for destination weddings planned well in advance. Also include within the invitation a card with your contact information as the person to book travel arrangements at group rates. If the wedding includes guests, suggest the couple have a number of pre-wedding activities, such as golf or spa time and rehearsal dinners. Many locations will require the couple Aruba Tourism Authority 2 Destination Weddings Specialist 2.0 | Travel Agent | August 27, 2007
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.