The secret may out for millions of people who learned about Long Beach Island through a recent celebrity wedding that hosted a guest list that included Taylor Swift and Zoe Kravitz. The truth is that weddings and other milestone celebrations have always found a positive place in this coastal region of New Jersey. The Southern Ocean Chamber and its members have been instrumental for catapulting and keeping the Long Beach Island Region as a top-of-mind celebration destination. With many strategies introduced the Wedding Road Show which was created in 2008, and ran for 15 years adapting to fit the changing needs of over a generation of decision makers who attended the self-guided tour or the virtual versions during the pandemic.
Since its inception, the Wedding Road Show branded an opportunity to showcase local experts and locations at no cost to residents and visitors. The impact continued to drive demand for more destination assets and services, as well as create business to business partnerships that grew into successful strategies. Since its inception, the event provided an opportunity to showcase local experts and locations at no cost to residents and visitors. It has been with the branded marketing campaigns that the organization and participating businesses have been able to raise awareness and nurture a generation of brides to be, decision makers and party planners to consider the Long Beach Island Region of NJ for their pre, post and milestone events. The regional non profit, which serves as the area’s Destination Marketing Organization, began outreach to local businesses and stakeholders to grow an expanding industry. Encouraging businesses of all sizes to offer services and products customized to the wedding parties. The success has led to the chamber’s event being recognized and considered to be on the best companies in the industry by NJ Bride with a Love It 2022 designation. This event has also won the NJ Governor’s Excellence in Tourism Award in 2014.
As technology and digital platforms are continually changing, so is the industry outlook for destination celebration audience. As the chamber’s popular Wedding Road Show branding will very much be part of the future, the hospitality community look forward to exploring new outreach that will continue to advance their destination and business community for years to come. The Long Beach Island Region is celebrated for unique events and wedding venues offering traditional and trendy ways to celebrate. With that in mind, we are highlighting creative ways to showcase these spaces and preferred vendors that are local party planning experts. Following the lead of a new generation of decision-makers, we are saying goodbye to one large bridal show and supporting a variety of venue open houses to target prospective customers any time of the year. Wedding Professionals can find new resources, to add customized events to their showcases, leveraging social media accounts, digital publications and celebration planner calendar tool. To find out more how this new program can help you business, see the info sheet here. Want to join in on this wedding centric business builder, visit the registration page here.
