The Ocean Crystal Chapel at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort has been renovated and reopened as the Akala Chapel under the management of Watabe Wedding Corp.

The partnership between Hilton and Kyoto, Japan-based Watabe, which opened its first overseas branch in Hawaii in 1973, is expected to enliven Oahu’s romance market. The chapel, which was built in 2006, was managed for the last decade by Karissma by Best Bridal Hawaii. The management change represents the fifth exclusive chapel contract in Hawaii for Watabe, which has access to 18 other venues across the isles and 74 worldwide in Japan and other Asian destinations like Singapore, Bali, Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

“This is our 44th year of operating in the islands,” said Katsuaki Suzuki, Watabe’s executive managing director of sales, marketing and operations. “This partnership will allow our demand to grow here. We are opening in two days, and we started taking bookings in December. In just one month we already have 350 weddings scheduled for this venue.”

Local interest among tour operators and wedding vendors is high. A grand opening Friday was so well attended by potential clients that a mock wedding was standing room only. It opens to wedding couples on Sunday, just in time for Valentine’s Day weekend wedding traffic.

“I think this is going to be a great success. Our reach will grow as Watabe’s reach grows,” said Jerry Gibson, area vice president of Hilton Hawaii. “Together we’ll all have a lot more success.”

Gibson said Hilton and Watabe worked to finalize the chapel agreement for about a year and a half. Following the agreement, Watabe made significant investment in the decor and in the chapel’s re-branding.

“Akala” in the Hawaiian language references the sun, characterizing the abundant sunlight that shines into the chapel through its floor-to-ceiling windows. Located in the center of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the chapel is bordered by a lava rock waterfall and surrounded by a garden pool and lush tropical landscaping.

The first floor features a guest lounge and bride’s room. The second story seats 50 guests. There’s also an adjacent gazebo, which accommodates 25 guests.

A la carte pricing for ceremonies starts from $2,500 and includes a 90-minute reservation at the facility, wedding rehearsal, ceremony coordinator and keepsake marriage certificate. Gazebo pricing starts from $1,000 for a 60-minute reservation of the area, coordinator and keepsake marriage certificate. The wedding team also can assist with officiates, musicians, photographers, fresh flower lei and more.

“Weddings are the best of all worlds for the visitor industry. They fill hotel rooms and utilize food and beverage venues,” Gibson said. “We are very excited about this new partnership.”

Gibson said Best Bridal Hawaii will continue to operate the White Beach Chapel, which offers a 40-seat venue with views of the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon and Pacific Ocean.

Tourism officials say expanding wedding partnerships bodes well for Hilton and Hawaii.

“Love and romance never grow old. They are the perfect couple. Weddings are as perfect an event as anyone can ever have. Couples will come back to Hawaii to celebrate their romance, renew their vows,” said Randy Baldemor, chief operating officer for the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA). “Many more thousands of couples will come here to celebrate their special day.”

According to HTA data, 639,596 visitors came to Hawaii in 2015 to honeymoon or get married, which represented an 8.3 percent year-over-year drop in this coveted niche market. Wedding and honeymoon travelers, who represent about 7 percent of Hawaii’s total 8.6 million visitor arrivals, typically are coveted because they tend to stay in higher-priced accommodations and splurge on everything from food to activities.

Hawaii Tourism Authority analysts said much of the wedding drop was related to a weaker visitor market from Japan, which always has been a top nuptial market for Hawaii. Last year overall arrivals from Japan dropped 0.8 percent to nearly 1.5 million visitors. Daily spending by Japanese visitors dropped 10 percent to $246 per person per day, contributing to a 9.8 percent drop in overall spending to $2.2 billion.

Visitors from Japan who came to Hawaii in 2015 to get married or honeymoon fell 13.3 percent to 281,381. Other major visitor source markets were weaker, too. In 2015, 135,277, or 7.8 percent fewer, wedding and honeymoon travelers came from the U.S. West. Nuptial traffic from the U.S. East dropped 7.5 percent to 99,026.

Only 18,998 wedding and honeymoon visitors came from Canada, representing a 7.3 percent decline.

The opening of the new chapel also comes as the Japanese yen is finally showing signs of strengthening against the dollar. The dollar traded for about 113 yen Friday, down from as high as 125 yen in June.

“We still think Hawaii is the biggest market for wedding couples in Japan,” Suzuki said. “Half of the wedding couples from our country who are traveling overseas for a wedding are choosing Hawaii. Demand for Hawaii is strong from Japan.”