Recommend June 2013 - (Page 38)

Accommodations at Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach Cancun Resort & Spa. dings at Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort in Cancun: That means genuine Indian food, a specialized henna artist, a mandap (wedding stage) decorator, vibrant decor, and exotic ﬂoral arrangements, and the hotel company points out that this is an excellent niche for travel professionals as most Indian affairs are large, so you’ll be booking 75 rooms easy. palaceresorts.com/weddings or palaceresortsagents.com PARADISUS RESORTS wedding ceremonies and again when these are performed with the Mayan ruins in the background, it could not lend for a more unique setting," says Constance Lacroes, senior corporate marketing director, Occidental Hotels & Resorts. With brands such as Royal Hideaway/Occidental Grand and Allegro Resorts, Occidental offers numerous resorts on both coasts of Mexico, as well as the Caribbean. The new 2014 wedding packages, which the company is looking to start selling in October 2013 and which are agent commissionable at 10 percent, include a variety of options for all budgets all of which come with basic inclusions such as the services of a wedding planner, recorded music during the ceremony, special turndown service (on wedding night) for bride and groom, honeymoon amenity gift, steam service for the bridal gown, and late check-out (based on availability). Packages stem from the complimentary Simple Love to the more elaborate Fiesta (Occidental Grand, $2,499; Allegro, $1,999). occidentalhotels.com/weddings-and-honeymoons or bookoccidental.com PALACE RESORTS Why Palace for the big day? “Palace Resorts takes the all-inclusive concept to a higher level, offering couples ‘Awe-Inclusive’ wedding experiences. The bride and groom enjoy all the beneﬁts available to any in-house group, such as unlimited private functions for special moments, and everyone has access to Palace Resorts’ touted complimentary 24-hour room service, top-shelf liquors, ﬁne dining at multiple restaurants, etc,” says Kathy Halpern, v.p. of marketing, Palace Resorts. It’s dizzying the amount of wedding styles offered at this iconic hotel brand, which has a ﬁrm foothold in Cancun with four properties, including Le Blanc Spa Resort, and three others in neighboring Cozumel, Isla Mujeres and Playa del Carmen. And there’s lots of love poured over travel agents: They pay 15 percent commission on wedding group rooms, 20 percent commission on wedding collections, a bonus commission on up to 25 rooms, and a booking bonus. Oh, and they throw in resort credits and the like for guests. Clients can opt for the complimentary wedding packages offered at both Le Blanc and Palace Resorts, although if they want to up the ante, there’s lots to choose from—even with Colin Cowie out of the picture, they have out-of-this-world offerings. We won’t go into all the details, but with names such as the Zen Garden Wedding package framed with swatches of white (available at Le Blanc; $2,799) and the dazzling Metallic Sands package at Palace Resorts ($2,500), you get the picture. Earlier this year, Palace Resorts debuted traditional Indian wed38 june 2013 35-41 MX CB Powerhouses.indd 38 Why Paradisus for the big day? “I think one of the most unique offerings we have is that we only do two weddings a day. We prefer to focus on the experience and the quality, versus the quantity. We also have an internal rule that both weddings must be two hours apart and must be at different locations. We do not want brides crisscrossing each other at any point. Also, all of our weddings have two private locations that are included in the package, so for the ceremony they have a private location and for the reception and cocktails, they also have a private location,” says Marilyn Cairo, romance manager, Paradisus Resorts. Paradisus Resorts, with locations in the Dominican Republic and in Playa del Carmen and Cancun in Mexico, rolls out the red carpet for brides and grooms not only on the wedding day but beforehand with the Love at First Site package, which invites those planning a wedding to visit the resort and see the space ﬁrst-hand prior to the big day. And guess what? The couple is then able to receive the value of their stay as a credit toward their wedding (win, win). Packages come in all shapes and sizes, so to speak, with everything from Tailor-Made Romance ($12,000), with all the goodies a couple could ask for, even a 3-hour welcome BBQ for the wedding party, to Fantasy ($1,500), which feels more like an unconventional, modern cocktail soiree (there’s also the complimentary Wish package). Couples can add on a bevy of a la carte services, such as a spa party and a cigar bar, so tell clients not to be shy. paradisus.com/romance-overview.php or melia.com/travelagents REAL RESORTS Why Real Resorts for the big day? “I think it’s the packages. We have such a wide variety of packages, everything from our value packages all the way to our luxury packages, which can include everything, and now we have Jewish ceremonies, Catholic ceremonies. The packages are really complete, but we also have it so couples can make it their own. They can add, upgrade the ﬂowers, upgrade the photo packages, so it’s not a cookie-cutter wedding,” says Gina Johnson, U.S. sales, Real Resorts. Real Resorts offers several brands under its belts in both Playa del Carmen and Cancun, including the adults-only THE Royal resorts. Last December saw the launch of the faith-based wedding packages that Johnson mentions, and they can be an add-on to any ROYAL wedding package. The Catholic wedding ceremony is actually held in a local chapel and includes the services of a bilingual Catholic priest, while the Jewish ceremony includes the services of a rabbi and kosher-style food. Another new addition is the Mexican Wedding package, which includes traditional Mexican decor, Mexican background music for the ceremony, a margarita cocktail toast, and a live Mexican trio. Real Resorts points out that they offer an extensive travel agent commission program for all agents (weddingcontracts@realresorts.com). weddings.realresorts.com or realresorts.com/real-travel-agents ➤ recommend.com 5/22/13 1:16 PM http://www.palaceresorts.com/weddings http://www.palaceresortsagents.com http://www.occidentalhotels.com/weddings-and-honeymoons http://www.bookoccidental.com http://www.paradisus.com/romance-overview.php http://www.melia.com/travelagents http://weddings.realresorts.com http://www.realresorts.com/real-travel-agents http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend June 2013

Editor's Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk: Wedding Bells with Rosewood Hotels & Resorts
Tour Talk: Travel Impressions Plans Perfect Destination Weddings
Royal Clipper's Sail-Away Honeymoon
North American Nuptials
An Ode to Romance
Exchanging Vows in Mexico
Mexico's Honeymoon Retreats
Destination Wedding Powerhouses: A Marriage Made in Heaven
A Destination Wedding for Every Taste
Beach Blanket Bliss
Wonders-of-the-World Honeymoons
Paradise Found
Honeymooning in Ultimate Bliss
A European Rendezvous

Recommend June 2013