Japan’s lovers sweet on isles
By Russ Lynch
Star-BulletinHawaii is far and away the first choice among Japanese couples planning to hold their weddings in foreign countries this spring, according to a new survey by Japan Travel Bureau Inc., Japan's biggest travel agency.
JTB said it booked 282 weddings in countries outside Japan for March through May and 179 of them, 63.5 percent, are scheduled to take place in Hawaii. The U.S. mainland and Canada together scored only 28 of the overseas weddings, behind Guam's 39.
When it comes to honeymoon trips, not necessarily including weddings, Hawaii is in second place after the U.S. mainland for the third year in a row but clearly gained in popularity, according to JTB's figures.
In first place through most of the 28 years JTB has been monitoring honeymoon destinations, Hawaii gained four percentage points this spring while the mainland gained 1.6 percent.
That left the mainland, boosted by the popularity of theme parks and special attractions such as those in Las Vegas, with 27.2 percent of the spring bookings by Japanese honeymooners. Hawaii got 26.5 percent of the business while Europe, with 16.7 percent, won third place.
Hawaii has many pluses for the weddings, JTB said. "Hawaii's advantages, in terms of the facts that Japanese is widely understood, the weather is good and the distance not too far from Japan, appear to be responsible for its popularity with those who attend overseas weddings," JTB said.
Hawaii has many specialized wedding chapels working for the Japan market, JTB said, adding that its Look JTB tour brochure for the first half of this year lists 35 of them in Hawaii.
They cover everything from easily affordable to first-class facilities and the range of other services associated with weddings has broadened, JTB said.
In a separate report, the Travel Industry Association of America said its survey shows Hawaii would get a 15 percent market share of U.S. vacationers this spring, the TIA said, the same as last year and down from 17 percent in 1996 and 19 percent in 1995. This year Hawaii follows Florida, with 44 percent, and California, 30 percent.
