Top 50 - Weddings & Honeymoons - We Travel To

When sitting down with wedding and honeymoon clients over tea and cake, Gillian Ashwood, director of We Travel To, describes herself as a body language expert, adept at reading couples and knowing when one is going along with the plan to keep the other happy.

Years of experience have taught her this, and to leave no stone unturned when it comes to the whims of brides and grooms. The agency gives couples a wedding planner book to fill in, and they’ve also started loaning brides a wedding dress bag for the plane.

This has been so well received they’ve ordered two more, this time with agency branding. Helping a couple find the nearest tattoo parlour so they could cement their love with matching tattoos has been one of the more memorable requests they’ve made happen, alongside countless champagne breakfasts and beach dinners.

Two-thirds of the business is made up of weddings and honeymoons bookings, and 60% of those have come back to book another kind of holiday within three years. Winning the TTG Top 50 Weddings & Honeymoons agency award last year helped widen their profile throughout their UK, and a new bookable website supports that reach.

The Caribbean and Sandals used to be their top-selling region and operator, but with fewer connections now available between Scottish airports and Caribbean islands, destinations like the US, the Maldives and Australia are coming to the fore.

Fun quizzes and regular training help the staff brush up on their product knowledge. Cabbages and condoms aren’t usually associated with honeymooners but Gillian makes sure her Thailand-bound clients know about this social enterprise restaurant in Bangkok along with other sustainable travel tips.

Taking part in wedding fairs, a push on social media with the help of a marketing agency, and digital screens in the shop window and outside the building all help attract new business. But a substantial
part of the agency’s wedding business happens organically, with the children of Gillian’s long-standing clients of several decades now coming to We Travel To to book their own honeymoons.

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