TIE THE KNOT KUONI STYLE
Take your vows in Tahiti, at the world’s first overwater blue lagoon chapel, in a shark reef aquarium in Vegas, on the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, with the dramatic wildlife of the Masai Mara or at a Rajastani palace shared with a local Hindu priest and fireworks
Weddings and renewing of vows need never be dull and Kuoni’s new brochure proves it, with a wide range of unusual, authentic and desperately romantic destinations in 27 countries. They span the Indian Ocean and Sub-Continent, USA & Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific and Italy.
The Weddings & Renewal of Vows brochure, valid from January 2010 to March 2011, includes the least expensive paid wedding of £315 at the Bacolet Beach Club in Tobago, while the lead-in package price is a bargain £1,807 per couple at Sri Lanka’s Riverina in a seaside room for seven nights on room and breakfast basis, including flights and transfers.
Highlights of the brochure are:
· Five new wedding destinations: Dominican Republic, Aruba, New Zealand (Queenstown & Rotorua), Italy (Puglia & Rome) and Hawaii; and two new destinations for renewal of vows: Tahiti and India (Kerala, Goa and Jaipur)
· More choice to meet demand of renewal of vows
· Four exclusive venues for 2010 including Mara Bushtops, Kenya and Bentota Beach, Sri Lanka for weddings; Velassaru and Kuramathi Village in the Maldives for renewal of vows
· New pricing, listing holiday price per couple to include the wedding, accommodation, flights and transfers (rather than wedding only)
· Unusual settings for weddings, at Mara Bushtops, Kenya; Blue Lagoon, Tahiti; and the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas
· Authentic weddings, in a Maari Village in New Zealand, and renewal of vows with fireworks at Samode Palace, Jaipur in India
· 25 free weddings
· Free island tours and butler for the day with 23 exclusive wedding packages
· Personalised Wedding concierge team with a point of contact from booking and through the wedding process to help personalise the event
EDITOR’S NOTES:
History and Track Record
Kuoni was established in 1906 in Switzerland by Alfred Kuoni, a visionary adventurer and explorer of his time who opened some of Europe’s first travel agencies. Today it has branch operations in over 40 countries. For 103 years, Kuoni has been creating holidays with a spirit of adventure and has been recognised consistently, winning coveted awards such as: ‘The World’s Leading Tour Operator’ for the past 11 years at the World Travel Awards; The Daily Telegraph’s Ultratravel voted Kuoni ‘Britain’s Best Large Tour Operator’ and Sunday Times Travel Magazine readers voted Kuoni 'Favourite Tour Operator for Families'. Kuoni has been ‘Britain’s Best Longhaul Tour Operator’ for 27 years as voted by travel agents.
Ethical Performance
Kuoni is committed to being a good corporate citizen, empowering people to protect the natural environment and local populations. The broader aim of Kuoni’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) policy is to minimise the adverse impact of tourist travel. Kuoni has over 32 active global CR projects and four priority areas: protecting children from sexual abuse in tourism; promoting fair working conditions; finding solutions for water scarcity and mitigating the consequences of climate change.
Kuoni’s Unique Selling Points
1. Concierge Service
The Kuoni Concierge service offers all the usual facilities of booking theatres, concerts, restaurants, festival or cultural occasions and overseas sporting events. It also manages private airport transfers, late check-outs, private tours and personal guides.
2. Kuoni Personal Travel Experts
Kuoni Personal Travel Experts are knowledgeable staff passionate about travel and ready to tailor-make the perfect holiday. They offer a personal touch by building a relationship with customers so they can call on the same travel expert each time they book.
3. At Home with Kuoni
Launched this year, At Home with Kuoni offers complimentary champagne, canapés and a Kuoni personal travel expert for individuals able to host a small gathering of friends and family in their home to learn about exciting holiday options. Guests are offered exclusive discounts.
Customer Assurance
Kuoni is ABTA and ATOL protected, giving customers financial protection and ensuring they won’t be stranded abroad. Customers are safe in the knowledge that while they are abroad, Kuoni has professional ground agents and English speaking guides to ensure they have an enjoyable stay.
For further press information & images of this expedition, please contact Kuoni PR: -
Fiona Blaszkowski on 01306 744 194/ fiona.blaszkowski@kuoni.co.uk
or Anne-Marie Hansen on 01306 744 173/ anne-marie.hansen@kuoni.co.uk
or Jemma Purvis on 01306 744 006/ jemma.purvis@kuoni.co.uk
EDITOR’S NOTES:
Indian Ocean & Sub Continent (pages 10-28)
· Kerala, Goa and Jaipur are all new exotic destinations for those all-important renewal of vows, including a floating wedding ceremony in Kerala
· Eight new hotels in the Maldives, including Shangri-La’s Villingili resort where couples enjoy a 90-minute Kandu Boli ritual at the Chi spa; and the five-star Banyan Tree, where weddings take place on a private sandbank
· Two hotels in Mauritius: the three-star Silver Beach – with wedding packages from £555 per couple - and the five-star Grand Mauritian
· One new hotel – the simple three-star Berjaya Beau Vallor resort in the Seychelles, with wedding packages at £429 per couple
· Romantic beach weddings in tropical Sri Lanka
· Renewal of vows in the historic Samode Palace outside Jaipur in India where the bride and groom will enjoy a personal firework display after the ceremony, a jeep safari to the nearby sand dunes, henna painting for the bride and traditional costumes for the couple
USA & Canada (pages 32-40)
· Weddings in iconic sights such as Central Park, New York, in a private rooftop garden with New York’s towering skyscrapers and landmarks such as the Empire State Building as a backdrop, or in City Hall, San Francisco where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio tied the knot
· Three new hotels in Las Vegas, including a wedding for wannabe cowboys in a rustic western cowboy setting of Bar 10 Ranch, with the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon as a dramatic backdrop, or in the Shark Reef Aquarium in the Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas
· Weddings on the palm-fringed beaches on the west coast of Hawaii’s Big Island
· The grand, 100-year-old Fairmont Banff Springs in Canada’s first national park is added to the roster of hotels in Canada, for a wedding in Scottish baronial style
Caribbean (pages 44-56)
· Fantastic array of new hotels across the tropical region of the Caribbean, from the luxurious celebrity retreat of Sandy Lane in Barbados, to the rejuvenating body and mind experience that is La Source in Grenada
· Romantic beach weddings available at some of the most beautiful islands in the world, on golden coral sand beaches with calm turquoise waters lapping nearby
· Free guaranteed room upgrade and guaranteed ceremony times (11am and 4pm) inside the wedding gazebo at the three-star Jolly Beach Hotel in Antigua
· Free personal butler for the day after the wedding plus a guaranteed room upgrade at the Spice Island on Grenada
· Wedding couples can enjoy a meal on the beach and an island rainforest and waterfall tour at the four-star Bacelot Beach boutique Hotel in Tobago. Wedding packages from £315 per couple
· Half day volcano tour and a 50-minute couples massage in-room at the five-star Jade Mountain on the lush island of St Lucia
· Free weddings at Blue Haven, Tobago, La Source, Grenada and Jade Mountain, Almond Morgan Bay, Rendezvous and The Jalouise Plantation, St Lucia on stays of seven nights or more, at Anse Chastanet, St Lucia when booking nine nights or more, and at Ottleys Plantation Inn, St Kitts and Coco Reef, Tobago when staying 14 nights or more
Africa (pages 60-64)
· The bride and groom can be pronounced man and wife amid the dramatic wildlife around the luxurious camp of Mara Bushtops in Kenya
· Two new hotels in Tanzania for barefoot weddings overlooking the Indian Ocean: the Royal Zanzibar Beach Resort and Mapenzi Beach Club
· The grand dame of South African hotels – the landmark Mount Nelson at the foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town – added for the first time. Perfect for garden weddings with harpist or string duo accompaniment
Far East (pages 68-72)
· New – barefoot luxury wedding on fine white sands of the five-star Zeavola resort in Phi Phi, Thailand, part of Small Luxury Hotels
Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific (pages 76-83)
· New – renewal of vows in the first overwater Blue Lagoon Chapel featuring a glass bottom floor where you stand during the ceremony with the ocean life beneath. Experience it inside the Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa in Tahiti
· Two new hotels in Tahiti – Intercontinental Bora Bora & Thalasso Spa, an eco-friendly private retreat, and Intercontinental Resort Moorea with 27-acre gardens and dolphin lagoon
· Marry at the summit of Sydney Harbour Bridge, if you have any energy left after the climb to the Sundeck!
· New – weddings in the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown, in the Chapel on the Lake set in vineyards and water gardens, or in Rotorua, New Zealand’s Maori cultural heartland, complete with Maori priest
Italy (page 86)
· New venues in historic Rome – the Campidoglio wedding hall - and in Puglia, at Italy’s heel and destined to be the next Tuscany, inside an elegant town hall.