TORONTO — A new partnership between the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada (WPIC) and TravelOnly will allow WPIC graduates to become certified travel agents with TravelOnly upon graduation.

The Canadian wedding industry is worth some $5 billion per year and last year 30,363 couples hired a professional wedding planner, according to WPIC. WPIC offers Wedding Planner courses as well certification for Destination Wedding Coordinators.

Gregory Luciani, President and CEO of TravelOnly, said growing consumer interest in destination weddings meant that a partnership with WPIC was a natural fit. TravelOnly has over 600 independent agents.

“We are pleased to be working with another organization that shares our vision of continuous education and recognize that there are many opportunities that will provide greater value to our members by working closer together,” said Luciani.

With the partnership, WPIC graduates can now integrate their new wedding planning businesses by becoming a travel agent with TravelOnly. As one of the largest host agencies in Canada, TravelOnly offers up to 100% commission rates and free consumer website and booking engines. WPIC graduates will also benefit from fam trips.

“The partnership of TravelOnly and WPIC gives us the opportunity to offer our WPIC Alumni further education and professional development within the world of travel, romance and destination weddings,” said WPIC Co-Founders Danielle Andrews and Tracey Manailescu. “We strongly believe in the adage of ‘never stop learning’ and feel that this venture will help our members do just that. TravelOnly has a strong and professional brand that has stood out to us for many years.  We feel confident that this is the beginning of a wonderful relationship.”

In addition to training and certifying independent and onsite resort wedding coordinators, WPIC developed the world’s first Destination Wedding Coordinator certification course in 2005 and boasts an association of over 6,500 certified members worldwide.