Newlyweds now have a lot more destinations to choose from other than the usuals like Taiwan, Japan or Southeast Asian countries for their honeymoon.

The International Travel Expo held yesterday saw a jump in the number of participating countries and a wide variety of wedding packages were promoted.

A seven-day Turkish wedding tour is among the new choices.

It costs between 12,000 yuan and 18,000 yuan on the mainland, including air-tickets and accommodation.

First stop of the tour will be Istanbul, followed by resort city Antalya.

A Turkish-style wedding ceremony will be held in Kas, Kalkan or Fethiye.

According to Oguzhan Yurteri, counselor of the Turkish Embassy's culture and information section in Beijing, there were 24 million tourists visiting Turkey last year, of which 70,000 were from the mainland and about 6,000 from Hong Kong.

Traditional honeymoon destinations also strove to retain their customers at the expo.

Japan's Okinawa, which is famous for its scenery, offered a wedding photo package which costs about HK$26,000 (plane tickets not included).

Another four-day wedding package, which includes a Western-style ceremony and a party for 20 people, costs between HK$50,000 and HK$60,000 (plane tickets not included).

A wedding ceremony in traditional Japanese style in Kyoto costs about HK$70,000 (plane tickets not included).

Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau officer Yoichiro Hirakawa expected more Hong Kong tourists to go to Okinawa this year because four direct flights between the SAR and the island were launched in April.

Apart from wedding packages, travel agencies are also expanding their businesses by introducing cycling tours and self-drive trips.

Tim Obendorf, managing director of cycling tour operator Hikari International Travel, said a four-day tour in Southern Guangdong that they offered at a price of HK$5,000 to HK$7,000 last year attracted 400 tourists.

Another tour by the group, a six-day cycling tour in Sabah, Malaysia at a cost of HK$10,000, also received 100 tourists.

"We have a 10 percent increase in the number of customers last year from 2006," Obendorf said. "Southern Guangdong is the most popular choice because the road condition there is better."

Meanwhile, Joe Tam, assistant general manager of car rental company Avis, said they have a 10 percent increase in customers last year.

(HK Edition 06/13/2008 page1)