More than 350 attend from 30 U.S. states and 18 countries

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, December 1, 2014 – From 17 – 20 November, more than 350 luxury wedding professionals were on-island to learn about wedding industry trends, networking, and experience a taste of what the Cayman Islands has to offer for destination weddings and romance travelers at the 14th engage! Luxury Wedding Business Summit at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. The engage!14 :: cayman islands summit was sponsored by 70 businesses, including more than 45 Cayman Islands partners. Attendees represented 18 countries and 30 U.S. states and stayed approximately 15 properties throughout the Cayman Islands.

The engage!14 Cayman Islands schedule featured insights from 56 luxury wedding experts. Cayman Islands Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Moses Kirkconnell officially opened the summit. Brides Magazine Editor-in-Chief Keija Minor started the program by sharing insights from Conde Nast’s bi-annual wedding survey. Attendees also heard from event designers Bryan Rafanelli, Marcy Blum, Mindy Weiss and David Beahm; luxury hospitality experts Cindy Novotny, Simon T. Bailey; and media spanning Martha Stewart Weddings’ Darcy Miller and Anthony Luscia; Bridal Bar Radio’s Harmony Walton, The Knot’s Carly Roney and Anja Winikka, Destination Weddings & Honeymoon Editor-in-Chief Erika Hueneke, Southern Weddings Creative Director Emily Thomas; and more.

Throughout the week, summit attendees had the opportunity to experience the Cayman Islands. Guests spent afternoons on Jet Ski Safaris, at Stingray City, taking island tours, and exploring the Botanic Park. A dine-around event on Tuesday evening gave attendees the chance to enjoy dinner at one of 19 participating restaurants.

Discussion focused on specialized topics from the concept of “glocal” (global planning with local implementation) in destination weddings, the exceptional bespoke options in the luxury wedding industry, and ways for luxury wedding businesses to expand their offerings and target their clientele. Jo-Anne Brown from Celebrations, Ltd. spoke to the entire group about the Cayman Islands’ exceptional romance travel and destination weddings capabilities, spanning the ease of the experience and the breadth of resources available on-island, to the hotel inventory and leisure offerings for wedding guests.

A group of attendees also experienced the Sister Islands during a one-day extension to the engage! experience. Small groups visited both Cayman Brac and Little Cayman on Sunday 16 November and Thursday 20 November. This distinctive experience gave influencers an inside look at the unique options available for hosting luxury events on the Sister Islands.

The engage!14 Cayman Islands social media conversation was an integral part of the experience. In the month of November, there have been 3,660 Instagram posts with 1.6 million impressions and over 2,700 tweets with exposure to almost 12 million.

For the first time, Cayman Islands wedding professionals were invited to attend “mini engage!” – a half day summit featuring a selection of engage! speakers and experts in destination weddings and media sharing their insights with Cayman Islands private sector partners.

“We are honored to welcome this exceptional group of luxury wedding and hospitality professionals to the Cayman Islands,” said Deputy Premier and Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Moses Kirkconnell. “The engage!14 luxury wedding summit allows us to showcase our ability to facilitate exceptional destination weddings for international couples, and to extend the best in Caymanian hospitality.”

“The engage!14 events throughout the week gave international wedding industry influencers an opportunity to immerse themselves and experience the Cayman Islands,” added Director of Tourism Mrs. Rosa Harris. “The group was very receptive to our private sector partners, and many planners expressed the strong appeal the Cayman Islands presents in attracting brides to book Cayman Islands weddings.”

For more information about the engage!14: Cayman Islands luxury wedding business summit, visit www.caymanislands.engage14.net

For more information about the Cayman Islands, visit www.caymanislands.ky