Taiwan star Jay Chou's wedding puts Yorkshire town on Asian tourist map

Selby, a small town in North Yorkshire, England, has landed firmly on the Asian tourist map after Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou held his wedding at its 1,000-year-old abbey.

Since Chou announced his marriage to model Hannah Quinlivan last Sunday, Selby Abbey and nearby stately home Castle Howard, where the star hosted his reception, have been visited by hundreds of fans, and tour operators are keen to add the locations to their itineraries. Castle Howard is now rushing to translate its wedding brochure to respond to inquiries from Asia.

"We have also seen an increase in inquiries from Chinese outbound-tour operators, so hope to see an increase in groups visiting us over the summer and during our Christmas opening," said Hannah Cooke, spokeswoman for Castle Howard.

Weddings at the 4,050-hectare estate start at £8,000 (HK$93,000), excluding tax, in the summer pavilion, rising to £15,000 for the main house.

The historic Selby Abbey has seen hundreds of Asian visitors in the past week, mostly people from overseas studying in Britain, according to the abbey's vicar, the Reverend Canon John Weetman. He said that unlike York, Selby Abbey had not previously received many visitors from China or elsewhere in Asia, but that could be changing.

Chou's wedding comes as the United Kingdom is trialling measures to ease visa applications for Chinese citizens to lure moneyed travellers to its shores.