Key West spa and hotel chain Key West, which has a major presence in the United States, has been making big news recently after it revealed it had booked the weddings of two of its top executives in Florida, where it has about a third of the state’s resorts.
The company also said it had already booked some wedding guests for its Key West-based spa, Key West Luxury Resort.
Key West spokeswoman Melissa Burchfield told The Associated Press that the wedding of Eric B. Brink, who was CEO of Key West until last year, and Jennifer M. Farr, who joined the company as CEO in December 2017, was the largest single event booked at Key West’s Orlando theme park in recent years.
The hotel and spa chain has about 3,000 locations in the U.S., according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
A spokeswoman for Key West said it was the first time the company had booked a wedding in Florida in nearly three decades.
“The two people that were married in Key West this past Saturday were two very important and well-respected members of our company and our team,” she said.
The wedding is the first for both Brink and Farr since they joined the Key Western family in 2015.
Key Western announced the wedding, which took place at the Orlando theme-park resort’s Grand Floridian, on its website and on Twitter.
The couple, who married at the Key House in June 2018, were the first of Key Western’s corporate family to be married in Florida since 2002, according to its website.
KeyWest has a partnership with the Miami-based Miami International Airport, which is located at the end of KeyWest Boulevard.
Farsi speakers and traditional music, along with a dance party and buffet, were among the highlights at the event, which included live music from the Beach Boys, the Rockettes, Mariah Carey and Mariah herself.
Key West said its Orlando Resort, which opened in 2011, is home to about 200 resorts, bars, restaurants, hotels and other attractions.
Its resort network includes four hotels in the Orlando area and a total of 6,200 properties in Florida and Canada.
While Key West was touting its hotel network in the past, its most recent financial statement, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, showed its Florida business declined for six straight quarters in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Its Key West Resort & Spa was in the red for the year.
The resort chain reported a loss of $3.5 million in the quarter.
Its Florida resort revenue was down $1.3 million to $1,054.8 million.
Farsi is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, and many people in North America and in many other countries have a strong affinity for it.
The Key West event, hosted by the Florida Keys Chamber of Commerce, drew about 6,500 guests and a large number of families.
Burchfield said the company is still working on getting all its guests to the event in Florida.
She said that as of late July, KeyWest had about 500 reservations for KeyWest Luxury Resorts in Florida to be filled by next week.
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