Destination Weddings & Honeymoons Stays on Top of the Recession

It all started as a one-off: Islands magazine created a special-interest issue in 2002 of a magazine aimed at brides planning weddings away from home. Called Islands Weddings & Honeymoons, the magazine filled a niche that no one else had hit. "It was the first publication I know of that recognized the significance of the fast-growing destination wedding market," says Susan Moynihan, editor-in-chief of what is now Destination Weddings & Honeymoons (DWH), which became a stand-alone publication in 2005.

The Florida-based magazine, part of Bonnier Corporation, is published six times a year in print form, with an accompanying website and twice-yearly media events in New York and Los Angeles. With a distribution of 100,000, DWH has managed to survive the recession even as the bridal industry has been hit hard. "2009 saw the closing of three major bridal titles," says Moynihan. "But DWH has continued to grow, as the niche has. In 2000, destination weddings were considered 5 percent of the market; today, they comprise 20 percent of the market, and will continue to grow as globally-minded 'millennials' reach marrying age.  And with 2.2 million weddings each year in the U.S., that's a substantial number."

With such a specific niche, a number of factors differentiate the magazine from your usual travel or bridal magazine. "Our readers are different from the clichéd image of a bride," says Moynihan. "For one thing, they're older-the average bride is 33 compared to the U.S. average of 28 - and they have a higher household income." In addition, DWH readers typically pay for their weddings themselves, so they choose the kind of wedding they want to have. "Not the kind their parents want them to have," says Moynihan. And compared to regular travel magazines, 99 percent of the readers will definitely be taking a major trip within the year.  "These are not daydreamers looking for inspiration, but people who need concrete ideas and have a specific budget and timeline they are working with in the short term."

Destination Weddings & Honeymoons is also an evangelist for the industry in general. "Part of our brand mission is to spread the word and educate people about destination weddings in general," says Moynihan. "When I started in bridal 10 years ago, people weren't familiar with the term, and assumed it meant eloping in Las Vegas. Now it's a buzz term that everyone knows." There can still be confusion about the term, Moynihan admits. "At our media events, we invite bridal media, traditional media and top wedding planners to meet our ad sponsors and learn more about what they're offering in the marketplace. At speaking engagements to industry, we'll tell hoteliers and planners about this market-what they're looking for, how to reach them and how to best serve them. We've recently arranged our first planner familiarization trip, taking 10 wedding planners to the Caribbean island of Grenada so they can see first-hand why the island makes a great wedding locale."

The Nov./Dec. 2010 issue marks the first double-edition of DWH - along with the regular magazine readers get the 2011 Honeymoon Preview with editor's picks on the top honeymoon destinations and hot, new hotels for the 2011 year.  "Plus, within select advertising markets we're using the new mobile tag where readers can view instantaneously, after downloading software, a video of their prospective honeymoon location, resort or hotel," says Carol Johnson, publisher of DWH. "This new technology allows DWH and our advertising partners to take our readers to the locale without boarding a plane."

The biggest challenge right now is getting the brand out there, Moynihan says. "We need to make it stand out to a consumer who is only engaged in this market for a year, and then moves on and is at the same time being aggressively pursued from all sides by mags, blogs, advertisers and vendors who want her dollars." The tactic for DWH is to not try to be everything to everyone, but to stay true to the niche, providing the practical, in-depth travel and planning information that readers aren't getting elsewhere.  And it's working.

"Our readers respond to what we're doing because they're not finding it anywhere else," says Moynihan.