Destination Weddings – Are You a "Destination"?

With the special events industry taking our financial "knocks" this year, we have heard (and rightly so) a lot of buzz about weddings being the "recession proof" market to target. Absolutely correct! But let's get a little more specific about one market in particular...

We have been saying all year that brides today may be trying a skimp a little on their budgets (cutting the guest list being the first place they try to save). A survey conducted for Destination Weddings & Honeymoons magazine forecasted that the average budget for a traditional wedding fell 7% in the past year to $20,398 as a national average. Where is the good news here? The fact is that they are all still hosting the event, and multiple wedding related events at that. That in itself is good news. More pointedly, the same survey also revealed that the destination weddings market will grow to $16 billion this year from $13 billion in 2008, extending a streak that has seen the market boom from just $3 billion in 2001. Now that's the kind of news we like to hear!

When talking about destination weddings, most people automatically think tropical or exotic locales – Mexico, Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii, etc. Destination weddings are defined as a wedding taking place outside of a 100 mile radius from the bride & groom's home town. The "destination" does not have to be a beach or island location – just "away". In a recent Beverly Clark survey of our brides, for those stating that they were having a destination wedding (56%!), Florida, California, Arizona, New York and Georgia all made it into the top ten as to where the event would be held!

So, have you ever considered yourself a destination wedding venue? Here are a few things to think about when trying to break into this booming market:

1. Do the work. Take time to speak to industry destination wedding experts to determine if your location is destination wedding friendly, and what you could do to attract and book more events
2. Becoming known as a destination wedding hot spot is all in the knowledge of your sales team and the marketing of your property. Become keenly aware of all the local area cultural points of interest and things that would be attractive to out of town guests. Market your property as a destination by showcasing all that you have to offer as well as the surrounding area
3. Build relationships with event planners and travel agents who specialize in destination weddings and events – they will bring you the best events!
4. If brides contact you directly, also refer them to a great event planner (one that you have built a relationship with in #3, above) who can handle all aspects of the destination event that you cannot handle – guest travel, invitations, welcome amenities, event design and décor, activities, etc.
5. Market (advertise) your business on a wider scale – not just to local markets. Research to determine where your "pull" market is from and advertise to specific, targeted areas.

For wedding industry vendors outside of hotels, resorts, event venues, country clubs, wineries, etc., the same theory applies. Determine if your business or service "can travel" and if you actually want to! Then, do # 1 – 5 above as well as researching what the local vendors have to offer so you see what you are competing against and why you are better. Why would a bride pay to transport you to her event when she could book local? You MUST have a great answer to this question. Trust me, the brides will be asking the same thing.

Never thought of yourself as being in the destination wedding market before? Well, maybe it's time to re-think it!

Special Event Industry Price Wars – Making Your Sales Approach NOT About the Price!

In the hospitality/special events industry, we are not immune to price wars. As in any industry, they can kill your margins, not to mention making the “closing” process of your sale more difficult. Focusing on a “value-based” selling strategy seems to be a good alternative, but before we talk about that, let’s explore and evaluate the problem a little more closely.

When costs increase, they do so across the board for you and all your competitors. Unless your cost structure is wildly inefficient (compared to your competition), one of the major problems is that competitors wait to raise prices until they see if everyone else is as well. They do not want to be the first one to raise prices, and then run the risk of losing business due to what appears to be price gouging. What happens, though, is that if you do not raise prices when all of your costs have increased, you are not being financially responsible with the profits of your business, and run the risk of putting yourself in an unhealthy financial position that can lead to reductions in staffing levels, services and experiences provided, and eventually bankruptcy. When necessary, taking reasonable increases at appropriate times of year is a step to ensuring the financial health of your business. Clients understand this as well - everywhere they turn, costs are increasing around them, and you are no exception to that rule.

While no one wants to “over pay”, customers are always looking for the best value and cost without sacrificing everything that they want. In this type of economy, service standards and experiential touches can be the differential between closing the sale and losing the sale to your competition that is still operating under last year’s prices. In the sales process, the ideal goal would be to present your product and service in such a way that your customer realizes how much they want it without even knowing the price. If a customer has already made up their mind about you, your product, the reliability, and the overall experience, price almost becomes incidental.

Especially in our industry, we have one chance and one chance only to get it right. You cannot have a “do-over” of an event if you make a mistake. You cannot just return the product for a new one as is the case with a tangible product. If your clients know that you realize this, and the importance of getting it right the first time, you have just elevated the trust factor in your relationship and made big points in getting to the final “close”.

Price wars are only possible when the product, service and experiences from different competitors/vendors are so identical that the client doesn’t care who provides them. So make yourself different. Make it all about service, host and guest experience and relationships. And, make sure that in your sales approach, you highlight the DIFFERENCES rather than how you are similar to your competition. This will allow you to stand out from the rest, and when comparing you with your competition, your client will remember YOU and how you made them feel.

Price factor shrinks as clients decide that what they want is the differences that you provide. We all have something unique to offer. By taking the time to determine what that is, what your sales approach will be and how you will not focus on price but on quality of service and experience, you shield yourself and your business from the “price wars” that we all want to avoid.