CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Donald and Nancy Smallwood marked their 44th wedding anniversary yesterday with a renewal of vows ceremony at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach.
State finds true love
in wedding industryHawaii’s nuptial market
is up 31 percent in the last
five years
Hawaii's wedding industry is a niche market with a future that might just last longer than the average marriage.
An increasing number of wedding couples are saying, "I do," to the romance of the islands and the word is getting out, said Marsha Wienert, Gov. Linda Lingle's tourism liaison.
Hawaii was recently named America's top romantic destination in a poll conducted by Yahoo! Travel and National Geographic Traveler magazine. Maui and Honolulu also have been named top destinations by Hotels.com. And moviegoers who go to see the romantic comedy "50 First Dates," which opened yesterday, will be able to see actor Adam Sandler romance actress Drew Barrymore against the backdrop of Hawaii's natural beauty.
"Hawaii is the perfect place to celebrate romance," said John Monahan, president and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Last year, visitor weddings grew 7.4 percent over 2002 to 18,131 ceremonies and comprised a third of all nuptials in the state. And despite a recent drop in international weddings due to SARS and the war with Iraq, overall the market has grown nearly 31 percent in the last five years, according to data from the state Department of Health.
The number of Japanese visitors coming to Hawaii to get married dropped in 2003, but the industry is healthy, said Hidetoshi Watabe, president of the Hawaii branch of the Watabe Wedding Corp., which handled a record 16,595 Japanese weddings in Hawaii in 2000.
Japanese wedding couples have a big impact on Hawaii's overall tourism industry, Watabe said. "Japanese wedding couples brought about an average of 7.7 guests, excluding the couple, to Hawaii in 2002," he said.
The industry is one Hawaii should romance because of its potential for high economic yields, Wienert said.
More than 20 percent of all adults who traveled last year -- roughly 42 million people -- took at least one trip in 2003 for a honeymoon, to celebrate an anniversary or to attend a wedding, according to data from the Travel Industry Association of America. Romance-related travel also is very popular with the Baby Boomer generation, which comprises 41 percent of travel in this niche market. Baby Boomers are attractive to the visitor industry because they typically have higher household incomes than other demographic segments.
"If there's a time in your life when you don't worry about expenses, it's a wedding or a honeymoon," Wienert said. "The destination weddings market impacts a wide range of businesses that aren't normally touched by tourism."
The International Institute of Weddings estimates the average cost of a U.S. wedding at more than $21,000, with money being spent on everything from food and lodging to clothing and flowers.
"The wedding market is huge," said Lori Naone, sales and events coordinator at Outrigger Hotels & Resorts. "It's definitely one of the more popular reasons for coming to Hawaii."
Trying to capitalize on the growing romance market, the Outrigger Reef on the Beach started offering a complementary vow renewal ceremony performed against the backdrop of Waikiki Beach.
Couples of every age, dressed in styles ranging from aloha casual to semiformal, have participated in the ceremony. Since October, 150 couples have renewed their vows at the weekly event, Naone said.
"So many people fantasize about getting married in Hawaii," Naone said. "I get e-mails everyday asking about the ceremony."
Although Oahu gets the lion's share of wedding and honeymoon visitors at more than 70 percent, wedding couples and honeymooners also are seeking out neighbor island views for their nuptials. Last year, Kauai drew the largest percentage of those who came to the state exclusively to get married or honeymoon, according to data from the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
The wedding of "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc last year and the paparazzi blitz concerning Jennifer Lopez's nuptial plans have pushed Kauai to the forefront of the romance destination market, said Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kauai Visitors Bureau.
"Media coverage of celebrities has increased and there's a heightened awareness of Kauai," Kanoho said, adding press about the LeBlanc wedding netted the equivalent of $838,239 in free publicity for the island.
Wedding and honeymooner growth on Kauai has been so strong that the island is giving other destinations a run for their market share, said Silvia Gamma, president of the Kauai Wedding Professionals Association.
"We've had about a 30 percent increase in business over the last few years," Gamma said. "Even Maui, the No. 1 neighbor island market, is starting to worry."
Terryl Vencl, executive director of the Maui Visitors Bureau, denies the Valley Isle is worried.
"It's booming," Vencl said. "And it's continuing to grow. People are attracted to the ambiance of our island. The laid-back atmosphere tends to attract people who want to take time to be together away from the everyday hassles of life."
