By V. Sivaji
The Penang Wedding Professionals Association (PWPA) and the Sichuan Wedding Trade Association (SWTA) signed a Memorandum Of Understanding to promote more weddings in both destinations.
The signing ceremony and a B2B session was held at the St Giles Wembley Hotel here. Guest-of-honour was State Exco for Tourism and Creative Economy YB Wong Hon Wai.
“I am delighted to extend a warm welcome to the esteemed delegates from Sichuan Wedding Trade Associations (SWTA) who have travelled all the way to join us.
“The SWTA as the only provincial-level wedding industry management organisation in Sichuan has been instrumental for 18-years in building platforms, integrating diverse industries, serving its members and benefiting newlyweds.
“I hope this experience will inspire you to have the confidence to further promote Penang as an ideal location for pre-wedding, wedding and honeymoon events”, said Wong.
The president of the Penang Wedding Professionals Association (PWPA), Low Chin Siang, added that they hope to “bring the world to Penang” by this first overseas collaboration.
“Penang is truly a perfect place for weddings. Our state is rich in heritage, packed with diverse cultures, and blessed with pretty scenery, which makes it ideal for memorable wedding moments.
“Beyond that, language is never a barrier here, it makes couples and their families feel right at home. The numerous direct flights from China only add to Penang’s appeal as a prime destination for weddings”, said Low.
The initiative dubbed “Say I Do In Penang” is to further promote bilateral tourism and travel as a wedding may only involve two people but their parents, relatives and friends will surely attend the happy occasion.
Thus, the wedding entourage will benefit the respective venue and city in terms of tourism too.
Some 19 representatives from the Sichuan Wedding Trade Association are headed by Wang Yiping.
Lending support were representatives from the various hotels and resorts in Penang.
Others present at the ceremony was MAH Penang Chapter chairman Dato Tony Goh and his vice chairman, Ben Ho, MOTAC Penang Deputy director Hadilah Rozali, MATTA Penang chairman, Ms Carolyn Leong among others.
The gathering is also in celebration of the 50th diplomatic relations between Malaysia / China and brought together by Penang Global Tourism (PGT) which is led by its chief executive officer, Ooi Chok Yan and his team.
Ooi added that Penang is not a popular destination for weddings just yet but we has a lot of potential to promote this untapped segment.
