Face-to-face: John Booty, business development manager for Wendy Wu Tours Ireland
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Since launching Wendy Wu Tours in Ireland, what’s been the market response to the product and the destination?
There has been a fantastic response from the trade here in Ireland. I knew there would be as Wendy Wu Tours selling to the Irish market has really opened up that part of the world to Irish consumers. As Wendy Wu has such an established identity in the UK as a trusted, good value and dynamic operator, there is a lot of confidence in the Irish market in terms of booking and selling the tours.
What booking trends have you noticed? What’s popular and why?
It would appear that the bookings trends are very similar to the UK market. Destination-wise, China is proving to be very popular along with Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan. It seems that customers booking Wendy Wu tours are seeing it as a ‘Once in the Lifetime’ holiday which they have been planning for quite some time. What customers seem to like about our itineraries is that they do not only visit their holiday destinations’ famous attractions but really discover the country’s culture, natural beauty and hidden treasures- and all in a stress-free manner. We also offer truly fully inclusive prices, which are fantastic value as well as a complimentary visa service. Our tour leaders and guides are passionate about travel and pride themselves on their professionalism, knowledge and caring nature, which allow our customers to just relax and enjoy their trip.
What initiatives do you have in place to get the Irish trade on board and what’s been the impact of those initiatives?
We are offering One4all shopping vouchers for Wendy Wu Tours bookings – the agents are really encouraged by this incentive as they can be spent in over 150 high street stores all over Ireland.
How is the Irish market similar or different to the general UK market in terms of destination/package preferences and booking trends?
The Irish market is surprisingly similar to the UK market in terms of preferences and bookings trends. There tends to be a long lead time on booking with Wendy Wu Tours of on average nine months, particularly as these are seen as bucket list holidays seeing some of the most iconic sites in the world. A key factor that has been noticed is the wide audience that Wendy Wu Tours is attracting as it offers such a diverse range of tours, catering for different types of travellers. Our portfolio offers the security of a fully escorted group tour, a more flexible private tour, a luxury tour in our ‘Exclusive Collection’, a more active and immersive experience in our ‘Discovery’ range as well as a fully tailor-made holiday. The top destinations for the Irish market are China, Burma Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan, as with the UK market.
What’s new for Wendy Wu Tours? (i.e. can you tell us any new destinations or packages etc?)
One of the key developments, which can be seen throughout our portfolio is that we now offer even more different styles of touring to cater for all types of traveller. Whilst well known for group escorted touring, we also offer private touring, tailor-made holidays, luxury journeys and more adventurous trips through Asia. For 2016/17, we have launched a brand new series of tours called ‘Discovery Tours’. These are more immersive tours with a lean towards more active experiences. They aim to get closer to the local culture and see the iconic sights as well as more off the beaten track destinations from a different perspective. Examples include sunrise at the Great Wall followed by a five-hour trek along one of the lesser-visited sections of the Great Wall, meeting ethnic tribes in Yunnan and visiting the peaks of the Himalayas.
Wendy Wu Tours also grew its luxury sector this year with the launch of the ‘Exclusive Collection’ (http://www.wendywutours.co.uk/exclusive-collection/). This offers iconic Asia itineraries with luxury extras and unique experiences. Starting with UK chauffeur transfers, the itineraries include five star accommodation, deluxe cruising, world-class restaurants and exceptional experiences, many of which are only available with Wendy Wu Tours. These range from a tour of the Terracotta Warriors with an archaeology expert to Champagne on the Great Wall. Exclusive Collection tours are available in China, India and South East Asia with tours ranging from ten to 18 days.
How important is the Irish trade to Wendy Wu Tours and what fams and incentives do you have planned to educate and motivate agents?
The trade are massively important to Wendy Wu Tours, our priority will always be to support and help them grow their business to Asia on the high street year after year . Familiarisation trips are top of our list as we want as many Irish agents as possible to see Asia with Wendy Wu Tours so that they can sell our product with confidence and success for many years to come. We will soon be launching our 2016/17 brochure packed with more destinations and new tours. A brand new Irish website is also set to launch which includes our Bambu Club. This gives agents everything they need to sell Wendy Wu Tours more effectively, with the latest flyers and posters, essential information about our fantastic tours, training and much more.
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