Hawaii top destination
for Japanese newlyweds

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii once again is No. 1 in the hearts of Japanese couples headed for the altar.

A survey by Japan's largest travel agency found that despite the gloomy economy at home, many more Japanese couples are holding their weddings overseas and Hawaii by far is the greatest beneficiary.

Japan's biggest travel agency, Japan Travel Bureau Inc., checked honeymoon bookings for October, November and December at 12 of its offices across Japan and found 387 couples planning to hold wedding ceremonies in foreign countries this quarter. That was a whopping 65 percent increase over the 1997 quarter.

Hawaii's gain was by a smaller percentage but its bookings are up 16.5 from the 1997 quarter, enough to pull the islands back into the top spot they lost to the U.S. mainland in last year's survey. And with 229 couples booking weddings in Hawaii for this quarter, Hawaii accounted for an overwhelming 59 percent of the overseas wedding bookings JTB sold.

Tokyo, in particular, registered a jump in Hawaii wedding business, JTB said, reporting bookings for 133, more than double the 61 couples in the year-earlier period.

"Some say 80 percent of the couples in the Tokyo area who want to hold the wedding ceremony overseas specify Hawaii," the JTB report said.

JTB said Hawaii's popularity appears due to three factors:

Japanese couples are tending toward later bookings. There are plenty of airline seats to Hawaii and wedding specialists have booked extra capacity in hotels and chapels, so they can handle fast arrangements.

The couples and their guests from Japan -- between eight and 10 per wedding on average -- like the climate and safety of Hawaii and the widespread understanding of the Japanese language.

Hawaii travel companies have discount plans for wedding groups and prices in Hawaii, anyway, are seen as reasonable.