Wedding Tourist Alliance was formed out of a deeply held belief that wedding venues perform a great service to tourism. As a trade association, it highlights how these venues not only host millions of international guests each year but also showcase the best of what Britain and Northern Ireland have to offer. These exceptional spaces include grand halls, barns, coastal houses, state rooms, ballrooms, saloons, pubs, and unique locations like woodlands, galleries, and ship hulls, all of which contribute to the rich tapestry of British hospitality and culture.
Often not in the public domain, these settings provide unique experiences that express what it is to get married in the UK, while reflecting the cultural values of the couple. Wedding venues are excellent at helping their couples convey their diverse requirements and the Wedding Tourist Alliance celebrates this with their unique Awards Scheme, given to members to reward the continued internationalisation of their businesses.
The Wedding Tourist Alliance provides easy access to translation and interpretation services, and hosts a tour booking service for wedding guests, to help them make the most of their visit to the part of the UK that couples have led them to. Using a link from the wedding venue website, travellers can access information about local walking and cycling trails, and book bespoke tours with guides who can arrange all the transport, pick-ups and drop offs required. This keeps wedding guests busy so that couples can prepare in peace!
From this service, the Wedding Tourist Alliance collects data that will describe the impact that wedding venues have on their local and wider communities, and the visitor economy. This data feeds into the campaigns the Alliance undertakes on behalf of its members.
The Wedding Tourist Alliance lobbies the government directly through Members of Parliament and indirectly through other trade bodies. They are one of 70 members of the UKs most prominent Tourism lobbyists, The Tourism Alliance and sit on the UKs largest Hospitality group's Wedding Focus Forum at UKHospitality, alongside the esteemed Alison Hargreaves at Guides for Brides. Other sectors organisations, such as from arts, sports, marine and heritage who are invested in the wedding industry can now collaborate and appeal about their wedding operations through this new collective.
As well as working at policy concerns, the Alliance supports wedding venues on an operational level as well. In order to do this, it remains close to the opinions and concerns of its members, publishing articles through a private members-only website with a debate forum and meeting at their annual conferences.
Wedding venue concerns are the foundational aspects of the business - issues such as sustainability, the laws surrounding visiting animals, security issues, local tourist highlights, licensing requirements, planning permission debates, food trends, recruitment policies, taxation implications, funding applications and policy developments. Venues hold a unique position within the Tourism, Events and Hospitality sectors. They are diverse but their contractual and operational requirements are the same and must be upheld to provide the best possible, future - proof service to guests.
Continual professional development is made available to wedding venues through a host of workshops and seminars, with expert advice on all subjects from diversifying the property's recreational offerings, to mixing the best wedding cocktails.
The Wedding Tourist Alliance's web pages are all linked but can be accessed separately, for wedding tourists, venues and members. To find out more information and take the opportunity to watch their scheduled webinars, follow the links below.