How can you grow sales in the weddings and honeymoons market? Three agents explain to Charlotte Cullinan the ways they build their business - from local partnerships and wedding fairs to social media networks
Garstang Travel director Nicole Eaves found hosting a local wedding week helped promote her agency’s offering to couples. The inspiration for the event struck Eaves while discussing a honeymoon with a client. “She was saying how fabulous [the market town of] Garstang was, and that she’d bought her wedding gown from our bridal shop, her wedding rings from our jewellers and ordered her cake from our bespoke cake makers,” Eaves explains. “She was so happy that she’d bought everything locally, and I had an idea.”
As a member of the Independent Garstang Traders group, Eaves spoke to other local businesses and the result was the Garstang Wedding Week, held in the Lancashire town between February 15-22, 2015.
Eaves says the aim was to promote Garstang to couples as the “one-stop shopping town for all their wedding needs”, and more than 30 wedding-related businesses took part. They all ran special wedding offers and decorated their windows, with Garstang Travel’s boasting a beach-themed display.
The main event took place on Garstang High Street on the Sunday, and visitors were given maps highlighting the locations of traders, with the local radio station broadcasting live from the event.
On the day Garstang Travel promoted several exclusive If Only offers, and was joined by the operator’s business development manager Shauna Hoey, who provided a £200 holiday voucher for a prize draw.
While the Sunday was hit by heavy rain and sleet, the event still attracted 120 couples, and Eaves says: “Despite the dreadful weather we were very busy in the afternoon, with lots of couples coming in for honeymoon inspiration. We had a great day and it was a fun atmosphere.”
The majority of customers were new, and on the Sunday the agency made two If Only honeymoon bookings to Dubai and Mauritius. “We also had lots of interest in honeymoon bookings for 2016 and those enquiries are still ongoing,” Eaves adds.
She is currently helping plan Garstang’s second Wedding Week, revealing: “It will be a much bigger event with live wedding singers on the street.”
Melanie Salt, senior travel consultant at Gates Travel in Kendal, Cumbria, says Facebook gives a modern spin on word-of-mouth wedding recommendations.
She is currently Facebook friends with 25 of her bridal customers, and explains: “When they see one of my Facebook wedding posts it reminds them that I’m here. People find it easy to get in touch and introduce me to someone else getting married via a comment in a post or a message.”
She cites one example, where a follower shared her post about a wedding fair. It was seen by a bride who then attended the event, and booked a £5,000 honeymoon to Mauritius. The new customer then became Facebook friends with Salt, and recommended her to friends and family via the social network.
Salt says: “Over two and a half years I booked a £25,000 wedding to Cyprus, a £4,000 honeymoon to Mexico, a £6,000 stag party in Portugal and a £2,500 London hen night, and everyone was connected to the initial bride.”
As Gates Travel’s wedding and honeymoon specialist, Salt puts related content on Facebook most days. While many posts are about cakes, flowers and wedding dresses, images of honeymoon destinations consistently gain the most likes.
Salt often books Planet Holidays’ tailor-made weddings, and says Facebook is the ideal platform to promote them. “A lot of brides don’t want a set package, and I help them with everything from the cake to picking floral colours. So I choose pictures that are a bit quirky, to highlight our tailor-made expertise.”
Salt uses her own Facebook account to give a “personal touch” and engage brides. “I’m renowned for being wedding-mad, and my Facebook profile shows I’m genuinely interested. Brides like it when someone takes an interest in the visual side of their wedding, and appreciate that I’m enthusiastic and abreast of bridal trends.”
Her followers will soon be treated to a glimpse of Salt’s own wedding preferences, as her own nuptials take place in Portugal at the end of this month and, of course, the photos will appear on Facebook.
For Dorchester-based homeworker Trisha Holden, wedding and travel fairs are perfect places to meet couples. Holden manages a team of 10 homeworkers through Luxury Holiday Experts, owned by Your Holiday Booking. Each year she attends Conde Nast Traveller’s Luxury Travel Fair in London, and all six of the National Wedding Shows in London, Birmingham and Manchester, which each attract up to 6,000 brides-to-be.
Holden is accompanied by homeworking colleagues at each event, and explains: “They generate an awful lot of business, and at each show we take an average of 200 very good quality, long-haul wedding and honeymoon enquiries.”
However, she stresses they are an investment, with a stand at a three-day show costing between £3,000 and £3,500. “They are pricey, but are very lucrative for us,” she adds.
Holden says an engaging stand is key, and recommends having fresh flowers and a bowl of mints or sweets. Describing her stand, she says: “People often imagine a beach with palm trees when they think about their wedding or honeymoon, so that’s our main backdrop image. There are also smaller images on the side of the stand to interest other customers, such as safaris and the Taj Mahal.”
Holden avoids free promotional goodies, explaining: “They often attract the wrong type of people, who will waste our time. Instead I have cards with my information on.” For a three-day event she normally takes 200 brochures, saying many customers prefer to have information emailed later. Enquiry forms capture visitors’ details, including their wedding date, ideal date of travel, and budget.
To capture a prospective customer’s interest, Holden ensures she focuses on selling her USPs, rather than a wedding or honeymoon. “At a show we have five minutes to sell ourselves, so I explain they will have a personal travel advisor, based from home, who has travelled extensively, and I mention all the extras we offer and our wedding gift list service. Anyone can sell a holiday, but I want them to buy into what makes us different.”
Melanie Salt, senior travel consultant at Gates Travel in Kendal, Cumbria, says Facebook gives a modern spin on word-of-mouth wedding recommendations.
She is currently Facebook friends with 25 of her bridal customers, and explains: “When they see one of my Facebook wedding posts it reminds them that I’m here. People find it easy to get in touch and introduce me to someone else getting married via a comment in a post or a message.”
She cites one example, where a follower shared her post about a wedding fair. It was seen by a bride who then attended the event, and booked a £5,000 honeymoon to Mauritius. The new customer then became Facebook friends with Salt, and recommended her to friends and family via the social network.
Salt says: “Over two and a half years I booked a £25,000 wedding to Cyprus, a £4,000 honeymoon to Mexico, a £6,000 stag party in Portugal and a £2,500 London hen night, and everyone was connected to the initial bride.”
As Gates Travel’s wedding and honeymoon specialist, Salt puts related content on Facebook most days. While many posts are about cakes, flowers and wedding dresses, images of honeymoon destinations consistently gain the most likes.
Salt often books Planet Holidays’ tailor-made weddings, and says Facebook is the ideal platform to promote them. “A lot of brides don’t want a set package, and I help them with everything from the cake to picking floral colours. So I choose pictures that are a bit quirky, to highlight our tailor-made expertise.”
Salt uses her own Facebook account to give a “personal touch” and engage brides. “I’m renowned for being wedding-mad, and my Facebook profile shows I’m genuinely interested. Brides like it when someone takes an interest in the visual side of their wedding, and appreciate that I’m enthusiastic and abreast of bridal trends.”
Her followers will soon be treated to a glimpse of Salt’s own wedding preferences, as her own nuptials take place in Portugal at the end of this month and, of course, the photos will appear on Facebook.