Destination weddings: marketing to millennials

Despite events like the Zika virus, devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean, earthquakes, and even allegations of tainted alcohol, destination weddings are thriving more than ever, and the target customers are millennial brides and grooms.

“The market has consistently been increasing, even with the challenges,” said Liz Scull, program manager, DestinationVows, during the 2017 Ensemble Travel Group's International Conference this week. “It’s affordable and it’s less expensive than a traditional wedding at home, and there’s a lot of money to be made. How you go into this business is really up to you.”

DestinationVows is a specialty niche program created by the Ensemble Travel Group to offer the support and marketing tools required to successfully grow a romance business. The program has been in Canada for 10 years, but now, for the very first time, Destination Vows is now fully North American, as a means to unite the Canadian, American, and Quebec markets. As Scull points out, Canadian consumers are quite different from American consumers when it comes to destination wedding planning and how they digest information.

Canadian Connection

From a Canadian perspective, there is serious potential to grow the destination weddings market.

“In 2015, 160,324 Canadians got married, and of those marriages, only 15 per cent, or 22,445 were destination weddings,” Scull said. “In comparison, 2,140,272 U.S couples got married, and 25 per cent of those couples opted for a destination wedding, representing 428,054 individuals.”

There are a number of factors that influence why Canadians are less likely to plan a destination, but one of the most significant is the accessibility. Whereas Canadians have no choice but to accept the cold weather or escape it, Americans can enjoy sunny skies and warm beaches all year-round, in top-selling wedding destinations like Hawaii, California, Florida, and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico was another destination wedding favourite, but unfortunately, with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, agents will need to rethink their strategies when it comes to selling destinations to both Canadian and American couples.

Liz Scull, program manager, DestinationVows

“I see the destinations shifting to places like Aruba and Jamaica,” Scull said. “Destination weddings are still happening, and the business isn’t declining at all, they’re just happening in different places.”

The Millennial Planners

Millennials are planners, and when it comes to a destination wedding, the process is no different. “They [millennials] love to research everything to death and they love the planning part,” Scull said. “Social media is a huge part of how the couple gets geared up for the big day, and if you’re not social, they won’t book with you. The attention span for engagement in the millennial market has dropped from 12 seconds to eight seconds within the last year, so if you can’t grab their attention using social media in that time, they’re out.”

According to a series of statistics from WeddingWire, November through March are when the most millennial engagements tend to happen, and the engagement period tends to last for a period of 13 months. Of those couples, approximately 50 percent of them begin planning after just one month. Millennial couples account for one-third of the North American market and they’re big spenders, amounting for $200+ billion per year.

When it comes to planning a destination wedding, shopping is the best part for millennial brides and grooms, who prefer experiences over purchases. More than 80 per cent of destination weddings involve millennial couples, which means there is much money to be made in the business. Most destination weddings involve a planning fee for the agent, and when the couple purchases a wedding package, agents can earn anywhere from 10 to 15 per cent on commission. Because millennials are all about making memories, there’s a big potential for upselling, but also, for extra business.

“The referral business in this industry is huge,” Scull said. “In the wedding party, there’s usually at least one person who’s engaged, and if you do a good job on this wedding, they’ll likely think of you first when the time comes to plan their own.”

For more information on Destination Vows, visit www.destinationvows.com