As Dominica continues to be marketed as an eco-tourism destination, efforts are also being made to attract more people to come to Dominica to have weddings and honeymoons.
Tourism Minister Hon. Ian Douglas says this tourism niche market is an area which Dominica must seek to take advantage of.
“When we look at statistics around the world, we see that the wedding and honeymoon industry is a billion dollar industry. Persons travel year round to get married. Romance has money and so we need to get in on that activity. A person gets married for once in their lifetime and they want that occasion to be memorable and traveling with their families and guests is part of that experience. We have also found that globally or internationally, the recession has not really affected the weddings and honeymoon industry. No matter how bad the recession is, people will continue to fall in love even if they don’t have any money. So we believe that Dominica has a lot of unique attributes to place itself in that wedding and honeymoon market.”
The Discover Dominica Authority plans to officially launch Dominica as a wedding and honeymoon destination soon.
Minister Douglas explained that amendments had to be made to the island’s marriage act to facilitate foreigners getting married in Dominica.
“One of the changes was our marriage act to allow persons to come here and get married in one day. To relax on the residency restriction for getting married, we had to increase some of our fees. We had to give our wedding officers more latitude so that they could perform marriage ceremonies not necessarily in a church setting but maybe at the Emerald Pool if they so desire. These are some of the things we had to do and now that we have done that, through the Ministry of Community Development and Gender Affairs, encouraged by the Ministry of Tourism, we are in a position now to really launch Dominica as a Wedding and Honeymoon Destination in a very big way.”
Dominica is considered to be one of the most exotic and romantic escapes in the Caribbean. Wedding locations range from the top of lush green mountains, alongside the crystal clear waters of a towering waterfall, or one of our fresh water lakes or the stunning botanical gardens.
The Minister stated that there is tremendous potential in that area and that all Dominicans should be aware of this.
A formal launching is expected to take place on Wednesday February 20, 2013 at the Garraway Hotel.