Destination Weddings by ALHI has a new initiative, LuxuryDestinationWeddings.com, a one-stop resource for couples and wedding planners that simplifies the process and allows ALHI properties to take advantage of the growing destination wedding market.
The consumer-facing website will connect engaged couples with some of the world’s most romantic and refined venues and vendors across the world.
Starting with initial site selection to full-service planning, this initiative bridges the gap between couples and ALHI’s luxury hotels, producing qualified leads and increasing hotel brand visibility across the wedding planning journey.
"What we have found is that destination weddings particularly are very much an interest and a need for most of our hotels in the luxury segment, and ALHI’s ability to actively sell into that market is something that the hotels don’t have the ability to do themselves,” said ALHI President and CEO Michael Dominguez.
“This allows us to serve our Members a little bit better. Where we are with the destination site today and where we're headed is going to allow us to actually open up to a wider and broader consumer audience for the first time, and that’s just a service to our membership.”
Couples and planners can start planning the big event through the website featuring several themes—including beach chic, mountain retreats, golf, city affairs, all-inclusive resorts, glitz and entertainment, grand spaces and luxurious or intimate settings.
“LuxuryDestinationWeddings.com is a game changer and a tool no one else has—the ability to create a full itinerary,” said Kimberly Richmond, ALHI’s Vice President of Sales – Weddings. “As a former wedding planner myself, I would have killed for a tool like this.
“It features properties, venues and trusted industry vendors—from florists and transportation providers to entertainment specialists—serving as a one-stop shop to discover, source, and book everything needed for an unforgettable destination wedding. It’s especially key for destination weddings, which usually span three to five days and include multiple events and activities, allowing couples and planners to build the perfect itinerary for their destination all in one place.”
Dominguez said the destination wedding market has exploded during and following the pandemic, largely driven by millennials.
“I think the timing for this is right, because one of the things happening under the radar is a lot of millennials getting married later in life and they have more money,” he said. “For about a decade there was talk that millennials weren't getting married, they weren't buying, they weren't having kids. Now they're doing all of that. They're just doing it about seven years later than most generations. And that's why the sweet spot is hitting us right now.”
ALHI Vice President for Marketing Meghan Hanna said that there’s been so much positive momentum in the luxury destination wedding market that she expects the website to continue driving awareness and engagement for our ALHI Members.
“We will be marketing the site through a myriad of channels,” she said. “We will first be relying on our existing network of wedding planners and Members to help us spread the word. From there, we will engage in some paid media, ads on social media and an SEO strategy to help spread the word to our target market.”
The technology of the website was brought to ALHI by a client for another purpose, but ALHI revamped it to allow customization for wedding planning.
“People will be able to look at almost any itinerary they'd want, save it and then go back and research to say, ‘With my wedding, I want to do golf, or I want to do spa, or I want to look at museums.’” Dominguez said. “You're going to be able to isolate all that within the website and we think that is going to be a very unique feature for a wedding site. We don't see that existing anywhere else.”
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