TORONTO — Sixteen Canadian couples are set to say "I do" at wedding ceremonies taking place simultaneously in the Bahamas later this year.
The spouses-to-be won the prize through an online contest aimed at promoting the Bahamas as a travel destination for weddings and honeymoons.
The simultaneous weddings at locations throughout the Bahamian islands are set for Nov. 16, at 4 p.m., local time.
The couples — eight from Ontario, four from Alberta, two from Manitoba and one each from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — will receive round-trip airfare and accommodation in the Bahamas, plus a "personal wedding co-ordinator."
The Ministry of Tourism in the Bahamas ran the same contest in the U.K. and the U.S in previous years.
Travel to the Caribbean country is crucial to its economy: nearly half the population is directly employed in tourism, and it generates 60 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.