The Online Marketing of Guams Overseas Weddings in Japan

Abstract

Destination weddings are increasing in popularity with Asian travelers, and as a result, many popular tourist destinations have established packages to accommodate couples for their overseas wedding experience. Some of the more well- known destinations for weddings with Japanese couples are: Hawaii, Guam, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. mainland. One reason for a couples’ decision to have a wedding overseas can be attributed to lower cost. Hawaii leads as the wedding destination for Japanese tourists, but Micronesia (primarily Guam) follows Hawaii with nearly 30% (JTB, 2006:4). Guam has a well-established infrastructure to conduct weddings for Japanese couples and is an important Japanese wedding destination with a 24.4% share of the Japanese overseas wedding market (Travel Journal International, 2008).This paper examines the niche market of Japanese overseas weddings on Guam and presents an analysis of Japanese marketing literature. Its focus is on Japanese online marketing materials to identify common elements of marketing that are used to attract overseas wedding couples, their families, and guests from Japan. Online content used for the marketing of weddings, the types of amenities offered in wedding packages, price levels, and methods used in differentiating Guam’s wedding experience from other destinations area.

Keywords: Japan, Guam, Tourism, Chapels, Destination Wedding

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