Best way for Hong Kong to make money? Marriage.
Apparently, if 1% of the 22,000 couples that marry in mainland China decided to marry in Hong Kong instead, Hong Kong would experience a huge business boom. Although easy money is their priority, of course, they still claim they need to make the couples’ trips worthwhile.
Actually, we’ve all known for a while that marriages are a pretty good way to make money. I even decided, at one point (I think it was yesterday) that I would become a wedding planner so I could feasibly get discounts on my own wedding by the time I turn 30. Okay, wishful thinking. (It goes hand-in-hand with that one point I decided I would learn how to sew, so I could make $20 prom dresses and sell them for $100).
But in a way, isn’t this all about capitalizing on love? I don’t guess it’s a bad thing: people have to make a living somehow. And doesn’t economics call for filling a need?
Posted on June 29th, 2006 by Joy
Filed under: Marriage
Everyone has to make a living, so unless Hong Kong begins to have wedding factories (and I wouldn’t be surprised, they’d go nicely next to the nike factories), I don’t think that the marriage industry is going to raise any eyebrows. After all, who doesn’t want to be married by Elvis (or a vampire!)?
Like it or not, most things on the planet are commercialized, marriage just happens to be one of those things. Is it wrong to give someone a lei (necklace-type gift, oft represented as flowers, commonly given at Hawaii celebrations, for those who don’t know) to celebrate? Because that’s capitalizing on celebrations.
-The Kit
Mr. Kit, I wasn’t dissing capitalization. I was merely asking a question. And I’m also quite sure that a marriage industry won’t be raising any eyebrows.
You know, that sounds a bit like another city I know of….
oh right! Las Vegas!
It’s not a horrible idea, and mainland China has done something similar promoting couples trips to Tibet. Macau is “the” destination for gambling… so why not make Hong Kong “the” destination for weddings?
Well, where I live, it’s “the” destination for tourism in general. Except the gambling part. We don’t have that. But sure, if they market it correctly, every couple will want to get married in Hong Kong. (I wonder how the Disneyland there will fare with all of that?)