Left to right: Lynette Harrigan, Jacqueline Johnson and Janis Braithwaite. Photo: Reuben Stoby/VINO

Ms. Johnson was speaking to the media following the historic forming of the first ever Bridal Association in the Virgin Islands on day 3 of the BVI Tourist Board’s Annual Tourism Stakeholders Meetings at the Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium in Paraquita Bay yesterday October 26, 2011.

According to Johnson, the benefit of forming a bridal association is not only to protect the interest of the Virgin Islands tourism industry but to become players on the world stage in the bridal market where some 130 billion dollars are pumped into by the United States alone.

“You want to make sure that consumers, travel agents, wedding planners know there is a force to be reckoned with in the British Virgin Islands that when you come in you will be serviced properly, you have qualified service professionals who will make sure your event is a memory to last a lifetime.”

Of the 130 billion dollars spent in the bridal market, Ms. Johnson said the Caribbean gets over 30 percent of the market, however, the Virgin Islands’ share is approximately only 2 percent.

“The BVI Bridal Association will consist of any entity in this destination that deals with wedding, whether is directly or indirectly. We just want to make sure that we have a presence in the international market because when people call they don’t want to be bouncing all over the place but if they come to an association we can recommended them to the various service providers such as wedding planners, photographers, restaurants, and hotels. It’s a one stop kind of shop,” Braithwaite told Virgin Islands News Online.

Braithwaite further said the formation of the association was a timely one and that the first thing that it would embark on is a membership drive. “We are going to try to get in any person that has any kind of interest in wedding in this destination and get them registered and involved in the association so that when we get out there to market we market not just the association but every single individual in that association.” She noted too that a website would soon be launched where interested persons could make contact with the association.

Meanwhile, Marketing and Niche Manager of the BVI Tourist Board, Lynette Harrigan said the formation of the BVI Bridal Association was history in the making and noted the short space of time that it was done. “We brought Jackie Johnson in here just for that particular reason, to form the association. It is something that we have been talking about for a while now and we really wanted to make it happen. Today the committee was formed and its full steam ahead from here. We look at it as the BVI is now going to be playing on an international scale when it comes to brides, weddings and honeymoons.”

Ms. Harrigan added that the BVI Tourist Board has been consistently promoting the Territory as a wedding destination and in fact is on such a mission in China.

“We do a lot of niche marketing and a lot of niche events, promoting weddings in the BVI. We have specific agents that we work with as well. We have been doing a lot of work but this is definitely taking it to the next level, Ms. Harrigan said.