Wedding destination company reports growth despite recession

Despite the worldwide economic downturn, a company that coordinates luxury weddings in South Africa has reported over R90 million worth of expenditure by its wedding parties over the past two years.

While many businesses are feeling the pinch, those linked to the wedding tourism sector remain buoyant with South Africa being an increasingly desirable wedding destination for international couples looking to tie the knot in a unique location.

Director of premium wedding destination company Wedding Concepts, Richard Holt, reports that the wedding industry saw a 40% growth in the 2008/ 2009 financial year. Holt reports that Wedding Concepts’ weddings bring between 3 000 and 4 000 wedding guests a year to South Africa. And that these visitors are eager to experience the best of southern and eastern Africa thereby contributing to the growth of economic wealth in all sectors related to the tourism and wedding industries such as high quality wedding venues, transport companies, florists, caterers, cake makers, hiring and staffing companies, marquee companies, musicians and the entertainment industry.

“South Africa is so popular and so attractive to the overseas market because of our growing reputation as a world leader in stylish, luxurious events, because we offer significant value where international couples can get a five-star wedding as opposed to three- star in places like Europe, the USA and the Middle East and it is a destination that offers the chance to combine a wedding and a honeymoon. We are not feeling the effects of the recession – in fact we have 50% more weddings booked for the 2010/ 2011 wedding season than last year this time. Our competitors have also reported growth and continuous demand,” said Holt.

As a result a new travel business called Travel Concepts has been launched to satisfy the demand for tailor-made travel itineraries from the guests of Wedding Concepts’ bridal clients.

“With so many international wedding guests asking our advice on where to stay and what to do in South Africa we knew it was time to share the information in a more structured way,” said Holt.

Cape Town based Wedding Concepts manages, co-ordinates and creates premium weddings in South Africa for couples from around the world.  Sister company, Travel Concepts, caters to the demand from its wedding parties for individually-tailored travel experiences in southern and eastern Africa.

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