Hong Kong should consider promoting itself as a 'Las Vegas-style' venue for marriage tourism, lawmaker Audrey Eu Yuet-mee said yesterday. Ms Eu said Hong Kong could provide a 'one-stop service' especially for mainland couples. The comments follow an Immigration Department paper presented to the Legislative Council's security panel that said couples choosing to marry had surged 26 per cent since the Civil Celebrants Marriage Scheme began last year. Legislators also heard yesterday there had been no complaints about the decision to loosen the restrictions and let lawyers marry couples in venues of choice rather than at registries. However, lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan warned the Immigration Department to be careful not to damage the 'solemnity' of marriage with excessive commercialisation.
