MarryCaribbean.com Scores Big with China's Affluent Travelers

MarryCaribbean.com, the premier website for information on weddings and honeymoons in the Caribbean (Division of Global Bridal Group), reports that in the past ninety days their public relations campaign in China has recorded over 350 articles and posts on social media platforms.

The focus of this outreach is to bring the Caribbean and its wedding and honeymoon product to the new generation of affluent Chinese citizens, while targeting wealthy Chinese couples. This campaign is being carried out through a network of China's travel opinion leaders and social media platforms.

Working in tandem with the Shanghai Travelers Club, MarryCaribbean.com had approximately 4.0 million page views on social media between April and June.

"As the only Caribbean travel web portal with visibility in China to promote romance, weddings and honeymoons to our islands, we are pleased and proud of the presence we have established and particularly on the social media platform. China is an ideal market for the Caribbean -- their economy is strong and the country is strategically located for future expansion" said Jacqueline Johnson, CEO of MarryCaribbean.com. "We placed a special focus on Beijing," she continued, "because of their higher per capita income than most of the regions of China, easier access to visa application procedures and their residents seem more willing and able to visit foreign countries than people in the rest of the country".

According to the UN World Tourism Organization Secretary General Taleb Rifai, China will become the world's largest inbound and outbound tourist travel market within five to seven years.

The China Tourism Academy reports that in 2010, 54 million Chinese traveled abroad spending approximately $55 billion, a 60 percent increase since 2005. There were 70 million Chinese outbound tourists in 2011, up 22 percent year on year, and outbound tourist expenditure reached $69 billion, up 25 percent year on year. The Academy predicted that the number of Chinese Outbound Tourists in 2012 could reach $78.4 million, an increase of 12 percent, and that outbound tourism expenditure will be $80 billion, up 16 percent year on year.

It is with these projections in mind that the MarryCaribbean.com campaign also targeted the urban, affluent Chinese couples living in Guangzhou and Shanghai along with the richest second tier cities of Hangzhou, Ningbo, Chengdu and Chongqing.

The Social Media Marketing and PR campaign promotes the Marry Caribbean website and its advertisers as the leading wedding and honeymoon website customized for prospective Chinese visitors seeking information on Caribbean destinations for weddings and honeymoons. The campaign uses a network of influential Chinese travel bloggers, who publishes posts, articles, pictures and links to the Marry Caribbean website and increases awareness among affluent Chinese travelers.

MarryCaribbean.com is a global travel site with a distinctly personal touch. CEO Jacqueline Johnson, CTC was Executive Travel Director of Brides Magazine, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Brides Destination Weddings & Honeymoons and Brides.com. She has also served as VP/Associate Publisher for Bridal Guide Magazine.

For over two decades she served on the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) with the Ministers and Directors of Tourism for 34 separate countries, and for the past 10 years she has been a member of the Executive Committee. She is also the recipient of CTO's Medal of Excellence as one of the 50 Most Influential Persons in the Caribbean.