China Daily Hong Kong Edition HK4 HK & Delta Life
Honeymooning made easy
A local woman is putting her extensive travel experience to good use, and in the process helping relieve engaged couples of the stress that comes with honeymoon planning. All the lucky couples need to provide is a destination, budget and small fee. Nicole Wong reports
More and more young couples in Hong Kong are passing the hassles of wedding preparation onto professional wedding planners, yet many may still be hardpressed to plan a memorable honeymoon.
That’s where the growing business of a local woman nicknamed Sze Sze comes in. She and two of her friends started a business venture called “Memorymoon” in the first quarter of last year.
That’s right, they’ll play your honeymoon.
The business has blossomed quickly, attracting 40 clients last year. And it started from a veteran traveler’s passion for sharing her travel tips and recommendations with others.
“Friends often asked for my itineraries from different countries before they planned their trips,” Sze Sze said. “Then it hit me that there were no honeymoon planning business in Hong Kong, so I thought I would give it a shot.”
While the planners offer extensive knowledge of worldwide destinations, Sze Sze said that most newly-weds prefer popular countries such as Greece, to where there is no packaged tour on the market.
“The most unconventional choice so far was Finland,” said Sze Sze. “It’s a challenge planning the itinerary, as the day is short over there. There are some perks, though, like watching the light of the North Pole from an ice hotel.”
For each tailor-made itinerary, Sze Sze provides flight and accommodation bookings, thorough planning of leisure activities, listings of restaurants and shops, and a number of meticulous details, right down to bus routes in the city and the currency exchange rates.
And her cost?
“We charge HK$150 for each day of the itinerary, and the couple should have a minimum budget of HK$20,000,” Sze Sze said. And, “We may consider raising the fees for some non-mainstream destinations, since those require more work in terms of booking.”
While competition hasn’t been a concern, Sze Sze said she has no plans to expand her business through more advertising or to turn it into a full-time job.
“It’s more a hobby than a business to me, and I enjoy it as freelance work,” Sze Sze said. “I have an office job, and it’s enough work reading up on the latest traveling information in my spare time.”
Sze Sze’s business, however, has been drawing attention from many local couples who are planning their weddings. On the government-run ESDlife website and other online forums, former clients post their reviews, and soon-to-be brides inquire about the service. Sze Sze also has a blog at memory-moon.blogspot.com through which people can reach her.
Phoebe Leung, who went to Japan in November for her honeymoon, was one of the customers who read about Sze Sze on the ESDlife website and became fascinated with the idea of honeymoon planning.
“It’s unheard of in Hong Kong, and the fees were very reasonable. I thought it’d be more fun than joining a packaged tour,” said Leung. “After all, each married couple dreams of a personal and memorable honeymoon.”
For their eight-day honeymoon in Japan, the couple had a budget of HK$30,000. Since her husband is an avid photographer, Leung specifically requested an itinerary full of leisurely activities and nice scenery.
The newly-weds were not disappointed as they arrived in Kyoto. There, they checked into a resort that cost HK$4,200 a night. The couple enjoyed a private spring in the afternoon and delicate Japanese cuisine for dinner in their room.
“The price sounded terribly high to me at first, but the hotel impressed me with its beauty and quietness,” Leung said. “There was a white-sand beach and a Japanese garden with lots of pine trees nearby. The whole place looked like a paradise.”Scenery and leisure aside, Leung and her husband were moved by the personal touch her honeymoon planner added to the trip. She even arranged for the hotel staff to give them a surprise wedding gift one morning.
“It’s a set of beautiful wooden utensils,” said Leung. “Sze Sze had told the resort we were there for our honeymoon. It amazed us how much thought she put into planning our trip.”
For the rest of their holiday, the couple decided to forego expensive hotel rooms for studio flats in a local residence. With a spacious lounge space and an open kitchen, Leung noted that its coziness made it resemble “the studio flats in a Japanese soap opera”.
Another couple, Flyonon Law and her husband, opted for a nine-day honeymoon and luxury hotel rooms in Greece last June. They were just as moved by the thoughts their honeymoon planner invested in their itinerary.
“Sze Sze gave us plenty of inexpensive flight options and sorted out all our inland flight bookings,” Law said. “She even told us which restaurant to go to if we wanted to watch the sunset during dinner.”
For Law and her husband, the most memorable moment of their honeymoon was a quiet moment in their hotel room, when they looked out the windows and saw the hotel swimming pool blending with the sea. “It’s a truly beautiful sight under the shimmering summer sun,” Law said. “Sze Sze really paid attention to our preferences and planned a wonderful trip for us in just two weeks.”
More and more young couples in Hong Kong are passing the hassles of wedding preparation onto professional wedding planners, yet many may still be hardpressed to plan a memorable honeymoon.
That’s where the growing business of a local woman nicknamed Sze Sze comes in. She and two of her friends started a business venture called “Memorymoon” in the first quarter of last year.
That’s right, they’ll play your honeymoon.
The business has blossomed quickly, attracting 40 clients last year. And it started from a veteran traveler’s passion for sharing her travel tips and recommendations with others.
“Friends often asked for my itineraries from different countries before they planned their trips,” Sze Sze said. “Then it hit me that there were no honeymoon planning business in Hong Kong, so I thought I would give it a shot.”
While the planners offer extensive knowledge of worldwide destinations, Sze Sze said that most newly-weds prefer popular countries such as Greece, to where there is no packaged tour on the market.
“The most unconventional choice so far was Finland,” said Sze Sze. “It’s a challenge planning the itinerary, as the day is short over there. There are some perks, though, like watching the light of the North Pole from an ice hotel.”
For each tailor-made itinerary, Sze Sze provides flight and accommodation bookings, thorough planning of leisure activities, listings of restaurants and shops, and a number of meticulous details, right down to bus routes in the city and the currency exchange rates.
And her cost?
“We charge HK$150 for each day of the itinerary, and the couple should have a minimum budget of HK$20,000,” Sze Sze said. And, “We may consider raising the fees for some non-mainstream destinations, since those require more work in terms of booking.”
While competition hasn’t been a concern, Sze Sze said she has no plans to expand her business through more advertising or to turn it into a full-time job.
“It’s more a hobby than a business to me, and I enjoy it as freelance work,” Sze Sze said. “I have an office job, and it’s enough work reading up on the latest traveling information in my spare time.”
Sze Sze’s business, however, has been drawing attention from many local couples who are planning their weddings. On the government-run ESDlife website and other online forums, former clients post their reviews, and soon-to-be brides inquire about the service. Sze Sze also has a blog at memory-moon.blogspot.com through which people can reach her.
Phoebe Leung, who went to Japan in November for her honeymoon, was one of the customers who read about Sze Sze on the ESDlife website and became fascinated with the idea of honeymoon planning.
“It’s unheard of in Hong Kong, and the fees were very reasonable. I thought it’d be more fun than joining a packaged tour,” said Leung. “After all, each married couple dreams of a personal and memorable honeymoon.”
For their eight-day honeymoon in Japan, the couple had a budget of HK$30,000. Since her husband is an avid photographer, Leung specifically requested an itinerary full of leisurely activities and nice scenery.
The newly-weds were not disappointed as they arrived in Kyoto. There, they checked into a resort that cost HK$4,200 a night. The couple enjoyed a private spring in the afternoon and delicate Japanese cuisine for dinner in their room.
“The price sounded terribly high to me at first, but the hotel impressed me with its beauty and quietness,” Leung said. “There was a white-sand beach and a Japanese garden with lots of pine trees nearby. The whole place looked like a paradise.”Scenery and leisure aside, Leung and her husband were moved by the personal touch her honeymoon planner added to the trip. She even arranged for the hotel staff to give them a surprise wedding gift one morning.
“It’s a set of beautiful wooden utensils,” said Leung. “Sze Sze had told the resort we were there for our honeymoon. It amazed us how much thought she put into planning our trip.”
For the rest of their holiday, the couple decided to forego expensive hotel rooms for studio flats in a local residence. With a spacious lounge space and an open kitchen, Leung noted that its coziness made it resemble “the studio flats in a Japanese soap opera”.
Another couple, Flyonon Law and her husband, opted for a nine-day honeymoon and luxury hotel rooms in Greece last June. They were just as moved by the thoughts their honeymoon planner invested in their itinerary.
“Sze Sze gave us plenty of inexpensive flight options and sorted out all our inland flight bookings,” Law said. “She even told us which restaurant to go to if we wanted to watch the sunset during dinner.”
For Law and her husband, the most memorable moment of their honeymoon was a quiet moment in their hotel room, when they looked out the windows and saw the hotel swimming pool blending with the sea. “It’s a truly beautiful sight under the shimmering summer sun,” Law said. “Sze Sze really paid attention to our preferences and planned a wonderful trip for us in just two weeks.”
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