Sanya Brings Global Wedding Tourism Industry Professionals Together

Nearly 200 overseas representatives from the world’s 20 leading wedding and honeymoon island countries and regions gathered in Sanya to share experiences and exchange ideas on the development of the global wedding tourism industry.Sanya, a city on the southern end of China’s Hainan Island, and has several bays with large beach resorts.  Delegations were from China (Sanya and Taiwan), Indonesia (Bali), the Cook Islands, Mauritius, Spain (Balearic Islands), Thailand (Phuket and Koh Samui), Maldives, Japan, Fiji, Seychelles, New Zealand, South Korea, the United States (Saipan and Guam), the Philippines (Boracay), Greece (Santorini), Australia and Tahiti.
A series of events were held during the forum, including keynote speeches from participating delegations, wedding-themed folk performances, a VIP round-table meeting, a Sanya wedding tourism sourcing fair, and wedding shows by Chinese designers at The Sanya EDITION, The Shanhaitian Resort Sanya, Autograph Collection and InterContinental Sanya Resort.
“Sanya is a romantic city full of happiness. As the first city in China to roll out a wedding destination marketing strategy, Sanya has achieved rapid growth in the wedding tourism market via its holistic tourism development plan. The city now offers a variety of featured wedding products and services by integrating its wedding tourism resources which has garnered considerable attention for the city,” said Mr. Bao Jian, Executive Vice Mayor of the Sanya Municipal People’s Government, during his welcoming speech at the opening ceremony.
Thanks to Sanya’s strong economic engine and a huge tourism consumption market, Sanya, an important strategic pivot point on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aimed to use the 2017 GWHI Forum to actively build a cooperative platform for global wedding and honeymoon destination islands. The forum represents the first formal piece of IP (Intellectual Property) created by Sanya in the professional international conference and exhibition sector. Sanya is on its way to becoming a world-class wedding and honeymoon destination island.
According to incomplete statistics, in 2016, Sanya received some 300,000 couples who had their wedding photographs taken in the city, and over 10,000 couples who visited Sanya on their honeymoons, generating tourism consumption of more than 8 billion yuan.
Sanya Wedding Tourism Sourcing Fair
A promotional conference for Sanya wedding tourism and a Sanya wedding tourism sourcing fair were held at The Sanya EDITION on July 19, 2017.
The Sanya wedding tourism sourcing fair attracted more than 500 purchasers from wedding companies across Chinaseeking business opportunities with 50 star-rated hotels, 8 scenic spots, and 50 local wedding tourism service providers from the Greater Sanya Tourism Circle.
Deals with a total value of over 185 million yuan were made during the fair.
VIP Round-table Meeting
The VIP Round-table Meeting of the 2017 GWHI Forum was held at The Sanya EDITION on July 19, 2017. During the meeting, the GWHI Organization and Committee were established and it was determined that a permanent secretariat would be set up in Sanya and that a GWHI Information Exchange Center will be built. It was also decided that organizers would collect the information on each island country and region, a list of wedding and honeymoon resource providers, and a list of Chinese purchasers, and that the information would be easily accessible to all members.
The VIP Round-table Meeting also confirmed that Sanya will be the permanent host city for the GWHI Forum. The date for the 2nd GWHI Forum has been set for June 2018. The “Sanya Vision for the 2017 GWHI Forum” was released during the meeting. The vision plan set out a list of goals and guidelines that all participating island countries and regions should work together to achieve during the 2017-2018 period.
The GWHI Forum provided a solid platform for participating island countries and regions to strengthen exchange and cooperation. Through sincere and open communication, and mutual learning, member countries and regions will work towards building each participating island country and region into an emerging wedding tourism destination on the world stage.
 
(Source: eTN eTurboNews Global Travel Industry News 24 July 2017)