We’ve got quite a spread for you this month, with a whole issue dedicated to Destination Weddings & Honeymoons across the globe, plus two extra special sections—the Colombia Travel Guide and All-Inclusive Powerhouses in the Caribbean & Mexico. To complement the romantic nature of this issue and the special section we included in the May issue on Destination Weddings & Honeymoons in Mexico, we hosted a roundtable at the Romance Travel Forum in Cancun last month. There were 60+ travel agents in attendance to discuss the “Role of the Travel Agent in the Destination Weddings & Honeymoons Market,” and they heard from industry experts Hilary Lanzer and Marilyn Cairo, both from ASK ME, as well as John Woolcock of the Jamaica Tourist Board, and, of course, added their own expert advice into the mix. During the discussion, travel agents learned the importance of getting in on this niche market now, and when asked about trends in the marketplace both Cairo and Lanzer of ASK ME commented that people are requesting more and more unique experiences. That coincides with the “Top 10 Wedding Trends” list rolled out by Destination Hotels & Resorts, one of whose hotels is featured in the North America destination weddings feature, Let’s Get Hitched!, on page 74. According to the team of wedding and event planners polled by Destination Hotels & Resorts, “traditional is out, imaginative is in: the days of stuffy rehearsal dinners, regimented plated meals, and suit-and-tie norms are numbered” the release states, with couples opting for “rehearsal dinner with new ideas such as dessert and champagne receptions or even an elaborate ‘Low Country Luau,’ featuring oysters, shrimp and grits, a whole roasted pig and tiki torches.”
Once couples are done celebrating their newfound life together with their friends and family, it’s off to the honeymoon, and we’ve got a slew of ideas across the globe that you can recommend to your clients—from a Victoria Falls hideaway in Zimbabwe (page 34) to a Santorini gem in Greece (page 56), not to mention a trek across Mongolia for a stay in a ger (page 82). If couples want to stay closer to home, Latin America beckons with a cruise on the Amazon (page 36), or maybe newlyweds prefer a honeymoon in their own backyard in a hip hotel in Rhode Island (page 78).
colombia travel guide
This month’s issue brings with it the Colombia Travel Guide (on page 37), which offers information on the unique experiences your clients can have throughout this hotspot destination—from Bogota to Cartagena de Indias, as well as Medellin, Cali and the Coffee Cultural Landscape. With a greatly enhanced infrastructure and improved security, tourism to Colombia has been rising, and no wonder, as this South American country offers everything from a rich pre-Columbian past to colonial and cosmopolitan cities.
—Paloma Villaverde de Rico
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