SOUTH EASTON, Mass. – Ellen Paderson’s travel business is up 20 percent this year – a sign of the economic times. Simply put, destination weddings and bar/bat mitzvah celebrations are less expensive than hosting a traditional reception at home.

“With fewer participants, usually just the immediate family and grandparents, expenses are kept down,” Paderson, the owner of Smiles & Miles Travel Inc., says. She will be participating in the Jan. 24 bar/bat mitzvah expo at Temple Sinai in Cranston.

Paderson launched her niche service of bar/bat mitzvah cruises/vacations about three years ago after seeing a CNN segment on it. She and an associate did marketing and research for two years in preparation for adding this product. She also traveled extensively, visiting historic synagogues in various Caribbean islands to meet rabbis and the temple communities.

Among the synagogues she visited were Aruba’s Beth Israel synagogue, a Conservative congregation with both Sephardic and Ashkenazic roots, led by Rev. Cantor Irving, and the St. Thomas Hebrew Congregation in the harbor town of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, which dates to the 18th century. The synagogue is Sephardic in origin with a “unique sand floor,” Paderson says, that is reminiscent of Jewish practices during the Spanish Inquisition, when Jews secretly continued to practice their faith in cellars with sand covering the floor to muffle their prayers.

Paderson also sailed the seas to select what she considered the best in family cruise travel. She books on Royal Caribbean International or Celebrity Cruises, typically for four, seven or eight nights leaving from Fort Lauderdale or Miami. Popular ports-of-call and island destinations are Costa Rica, St. Thomas, Aruba, Puerto Rico, Cozumel and St. Maarten.

The ceremony can be held on the ship, with Cantor Glen Sherman of Florida officiating. The officiant’s fees range from $1,500 to $2,000. If the family holds the celebration on board, typically in a non-denominational chapel or reception room, the family also pays for the cantor’s cabin expenses. Some families elect to have their own rabbi fly to a destination or cruise with them.

A family of four could do a bar/bat mitzvah cruise for as little as $5,000 to $6,000, she said, depending on the time of year, and the cabin selection, and go up from there. The island vacations can range from a five-star resort on St. John’s or in Aruba, to an eco- lodge in a rain forest in Puerto Rico. One of the more unusual bar mitzvah ceremonies Paderson remembers was in a Costa Rican rain forest, although it was not for one of her clients.

Paderson said children prepare in their home synagogues and religious schools, or with tutors. For families who do not belong to a synagogue, some island rabbis will hold six study sessions via Skype with the student. Mitzvah projects include community service for island schools or for non-profits.

Paderson recommends families book at least a year in advance, although she has planned some ceremonies in as little as six months. Her bottom line, and which has grown her business to an international clientele, is embodied in the name of her agency, Smiles & Miles. Before her clients travel the miles, she does so, visiting what she offers, so they can return with smiles.

Contact Ellen Paderson of Smiles & Miles Travel, Inc., in South Easton, Mass., at 508-238-4088, or ellen@barmitzvahvacations.com. Visit the Web sites at www.smilesandmilestravel.com and www.barmitzvahvacations.com.

mkorr@verizon.net.