Pudong Shangri-La Hotel Shanghai

Married in Hawaii Began Group Wedding Packaged Tours in Hawaii

上海浦东香格里拉酒店

《婚典》在夏威夷组织国内集体婚礼蜜月团

Edit:  Vivian    Story & Photos:  Married in Hawaii

Married in Hawaii, LLC was officially launched in China at the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai. Representatives from both Married in Hawaii, LLC hosted the event for China media representatives, local tour agents, and VIP guests. The launch party featured Hawaiian music, movies, gifts, and specially prepared “Hawaiian taste treats”.

Married in Hawaii was formed to take advantage of the recently announced (June 17, 2008) memorandum of understanding (MOU) by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce - that Chinese leisure travelers may travel to the United States in group leisure tours for the first time. Under this new Tourism MOU, Chinese travel agents were able to openly advertise and promote group leisure tours to Hawaii and other destinations in the United States. The first phase lasted six months, during which time only nine provinces and municipalities had the opportunity to organize U. S.A. - bound tour groups: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hebei, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces. Domestic tour operators with licenses in the nine municipalities and provinces to run outbound tourism operations could organize U. S.-bound tour groups. Married in Hawaii was represented in China by All Americas, Inc. which was a Chinese owned tour company headquartered in Los Angeles.  All Americas presently had nine travel offices in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Shenyang, Qingdao, and Changsha. 

The officers of Married in Hawaii were Professor Sanford Friedman and Mr.Thomas Zhuang.  Both men had extensive experience in the travel industry in Hawaii. Dr. Friedman started his hotel career in 1970 as an auditor for Sheraton Hotels Hawaii and Mr. Zhuang had had his own travel agency in Hawaii, East West Best Travel, for the past 20 years. With their extensive network and experience in the Hawaiian Islands, Married in Hawaii offered expertly organized wedding group tours.

    Married in Hawaii在上海浦东香格里拉酒店举行了正式推广会。安排当地媒体，旅游界同仁和贵宾出席。推广会颇具夏威夷特色，光临者尽情享受了夏威夷音乐，电影，礼物以及夏威夷风味小吃。

    Married in Hawaii借此契机。2008年6月17日中国国家旅游局与美国商务部签署了《有关便利中国旅游团队赴美利坚合众国旅游的谅解备忘录》，按此规定，国内旅游公司可以公开宣传和推广国内游客去夏威夷和美国其它城市旅游。前期六个月试用阶段，北京，上海，天津，河北，湖北，湖南，江苏，浙江和广东，这六省三市可以组团赴美。此次Married in Hawaii与总部位于洛杉矶的泛美旅游公司携手，由泛美公司代理在国内的一切业务。泛美旅游公司在北京，上海，成都，广州，深圳，南京，沈阳，青岛和长沙均设有分公司。

   教授Sanford Friedman和Thomas Zhuang为公司主要成员，二人在夏威夷旅游业都具有声誉和资深经历。自1970年Friedman博士就任职于夏威夷喜来登酒店集团，Thomas Zhuang先生拥有的夏威夷东西好国际旅游公司20多年来提供了广泛和优良的旅游服务，定能成功地组织集体婚礼蜜月团。