The Tourism Department will host the second annual Bridal Educational Symposium on Nov. 18 and 19 at the Renaissance Carambola Resort on St. Croix. The two-day event, held this year on St. Croix, will attract leading journalists, experts, travel agents and local wedding industry professionals to network and learn best business practices and marketing strategies.
The symposium will position the territory as a premier wedding and honeymoon destination and is expected to increase bookings among this niche travel segment.
“Our robust lineup of speakers will position the territory as a premier destination among leading weddings and honeymoon travel professionals,” Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty said in a press release issued Wednesday.
The seminars will be moderated again this year by celebrity television host and lifestyle expert Mar Jennings, who will speak to the growing industry that caters to affairs of the heart.
This year’s seminar speakers include internationally renowned wedding and party planner Colin Cowie on the topic of setting trends and raising the bar, Marley Majcher on business guides for entrepreneurs, Susan Black on digital marketing and eCommerce, Cynthia DeLeonardo on radio and partnerships, Brenda O’Neale on destination weddings, and Jacqueline Johnson on the power and profitability of the wedding and honeymoon industry.
About 100 delegates are expected to attend the event. Local vendors, including entertainment, venues, florists, wedding planners and caters, will showcase their products to both local and visiting future brides.
The department will offer a special package for 2015 brides-to-be including three-night hotel accommodations, admission to the destination vendors trade show, symposium registration, airport transfers and ground transportation for site inspections.
Brides who book their wedding within 30 days of departure will receive a $500 wedding certificate eligible for any participating wedding planner.
