About the Caribbean Wedding Association

Jacqueline Johnson, CTC President & CEO

Jacqueline Johnson, CTC is the President/CEO of Global Bridal Group, LLC a Media Company that provides comprehensive Bridal & Honeymoon guidance through interactive-target marketing utilizing the following websites:

MarryCaribbean.com
CaribbeanWeddingAssociation.com
GlobalWeddingResource.com
Wedding & Honeymoon Correspondent: Questex Publications
Director: Bridal Travel Insights – The Wedding Report, Inc

For her involvement in the industry, she has been acknowledged by various countries/organizations:

1. NOAH Award for distinguished service in the travel industry from the Academy of Tourism Organization.  An award that honors role models and mentors in each of the travel disciplines within the expanding field of MACROTOURISM.
2. Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) New Directions Committee in recognition and appreciation of efforts in conceptualizing and staging successful and innovative marketing initiatives in support of the development of Caribbean tourism.
3. Outstanding Service Award – CTO – in recognition of dedicated service and leadership/professional excellence in the development of the tourism product.
4. CTO Foundation Chairman’s Award – Deep appreciation for contribution to developing future Caribbean Tourism leaders as Chairman of the Audrey Palmer Hawks Memorial Scholarship Fund.
5. CTO Award of Excellence – Tireless dedication and exceptional support in promotion of Romance Market in the Caribbean
6. Brides Magazine Sales Person of the Year
7. United States Virgin Islands – Media Travel Partner of the Year
8. Jamaica Tourist Board – the Marcella Martinez Award for excellence in the promotion of Jamaica.
9. Caribbean Tourism Organization – Medal of Excellence as one of the 50th most influential person in the Caribbean.

Ms. Johnson is an active member of several organizations:

The Association of Travel Marketing Executives
AFRICA Travel Association
Travel Writers Association
Caribbean Tourism Organization
Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Organization
The Wedding Report

Myrtle Dwyer, Director of Sales and Marketing

Myrtle Dwyer has been engaged in the hospitality industry for the past 30 years, twenty-eight (28) of which have been spent at the luxurious Half Moon in various managerial positions. Her current position is Director of Sales & Marketing for the resort. She is also one of the five senior executives at Half Moon. During her tenure as Director of Sales & Marketing, Ms. Dwyer re-organized the sales & marketing department to promote various segments including families, incentive groups, golfers, honey-mooners, tennis, beach, lovers and others. During this period of expansion, the Destinations Weddings department was launched. To date this department provides multi-million United States dollars to half moon’s coffers. Many partnerships have been formed, which now support this endeavour. Half moon continues to be a trendsetter in this area.

She has worked on various contracts including groups, weddings, tour operators, planned visits for heads of state, celebrities and many persons of note, for which Half Moon is renowned. She has arranged a full marketing plan focusing on the various marketing segments. Travel to many trade shows and personal vacations have enabled her to do benchmarking, collect data, and review trends.

Academically she holds a Master of Science (Hospitality and Tourism Management), with distinction and is a fellow of the International Management Centres Association. She has also studied hotel management and tourism with distinction in Munich Germany, and of course she speaks fluent German and Spanish.

She continues to upgrade herself through in-house training, memberships to various industry related organizations, serminars, and has participated on a number of forums.

She is the proud mother of a 22 year-old daughter, an active person in the community as a justice of the peace and lay magistrate of the Parish of St. James. She also plays a leading role as deaconess and lay preacher at the Calvary Baptist church; she is honorary consulate for Spain representing Montego Bay, and is currently the Chairman of the Board for the Montego Bay High School (her alma mater), among many other community efforts.

Kristin Zern, Executive Director, Association of Travel Marketing Executives

Kristin Zern has been a travel marketing executive for the past 35 years holding executive marketing positions in several segments of the travel industry.

She was CEO of a family travel tour operator, eastern regional sales manager for a Caribbean resort, and SVP at a company specializing in worldwide luxury condominium vacations.

Zern was the Director of Travel Marketing at Berlitz Publishing Company for 14 yrs, where she developed a 3 million dollar profit center from scratch. She has been the Executive Director of the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME) since 1992 where she is responsible for all the educational programs and events including the annual conference. She is also responsible for all of ATME's publications and products, including the website.

Ms. Zern has been on several industry boards and committees including ASTA's Allied Committee, US Travel Marketing Committee, ATME's Board, and the Executive Committee of the Academy of Travel & Tourism.

Paul Pannone, Investigative Reporter, EWedNews

Paul has been involved in all aspects of wedding planning, retail, advertising and marketing for over 25 years. Currently he brings over ten years of writing experience, covering major news stories focused primarily on the men's apparel and tuxedo rental industry, as an expert. Pannone has been involved in numerous television projects including ABC's popular Live! With Regis and Kelly show.

Pannone's talents are expanding to Social Networking circles and will continue to build his persona, delivering the news and product specific information involving formal wear through E- Formal News and now in expanded categories via eWedNews.

Wanda Fisher, President

Wanda Fisher is a walking wellness billboard. She has coined the phrase “common sense wellness”. In an age of new healthy living inventions and disputed research over who is right and who is wrong. The demand for basic natural healing has increased. Fisher has researched and studied wellness techniques to include advanced breathing, vegetarian nutrition, herbal remedies, intuitive feng sui, mental conditioning, energy work, and other healing practices that contributed to her self healing of a kidney condition resulting from multiple kidneys tangled up on both sides.

She is committed to a campaign focusing on branding wellness travel in the Caribbean where she lived for a significant number of years. Her speaking tour presentation on Wellness travel is no longer a luxury but a necessity has provided an opportunity for her to meet with tourism destinations globally. The campaign features three on going programs to include, Wellness Marketing News, My Wellness Escape and Wellness Event Network.

Her wellness clients and wellness business associates, past and present include; Business Women & Entrepreneurs Association (BWE), Black Entertainment Television (BET), Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Hospitality and Design Exposition & Conference (HD Boutique), Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), Dominica Hotel Association (DHA), Prince George’s County Department of Health & Education (OGCHE), Diageo Distributors to include Crown Royal, Sustainable Tourism Conference, CTO Travel Agents & Presidents Conference, National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment (NABFEME), and individual corporate executives and celebrities.

She has amassed a team of experts with the knowledge and licensed in the area of massage therapy, clinical psychology, spa management, wellness travel specialist wellness product manufacturing and design, and many others. Her 2007 marketing campaign focuses on the promotion of “romance and wellness travel” programs created especially for the Caribbean.

 

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