Wendy Wu Tours increases five-star focus as luxury demand rises

Wendy Wu Tours is looking at increasing its offering in the luxury market following its initial foray into the five-star sector in response to demand from agents and clients.

 

Gary King, head of trade sales, told a Travel Weekly webcast that the specialist operator had previously offered mostly four-star hotels but recently started offering more dedicated luxury and upgraded departures.

 

“On 10 of our most popular tours across our whole range, we’ve now introduced three or four departures whereby customers upgrade to a five-star hotel,” he said.

 

“We’ve always said that we’re luxury when it comes to the experience. But with accommodation, some people only like the idea of five-star so we launched it at Christmas time.”

 

He said it if proves successful, the concept will be extended to more tours.

 

“In the past, if somebody wanted one of our tours, but with a five-star option, that would have to go the tailor-made department,” he said.

 

“We are constantly looking at patterns and trends…as well as anecdotal feedback through the agents and our BDMS.”

 

 

 

Founder Wendy Wu added: “We worked so, so hard to make sure it’s just a minimum increase in price.”

 

She recently spoke at the inaugural Luxury Adventure Showcase, hosted by Travel Weekly sister brands Aspire and the Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers (Atas).

 

More: Agents praise Aspire and Atas for ‘fantastic’ inaugural Luxury Adventure Showcase

 

At the showcase, she highlighted the operator’s new wildlife collection, which had been launched because interest in animal encounters had increased by 40% in the last couple of years.

 

She said animals such as the Komodo dragon, orangutans, wild horses, snow monkeys, pandas and tigers can be seen on tours – as well as the “big five” in Africa.

 

King noted that the company had expanded into Africa about a year ago because of demand from customers to see wildlife.

 

Other collections, in addition to the classic touring product, include rail, cruise-and-tour and Christmas holidays.

 

More: Wendy Wu Tours eyes another record year following ’best-ever’ January

 

The operator also features Antarctica itineraries in partnership with HX and is looking at further expansion in the expedition cruise sector where it is seeing “big demand”, added King.

 

As well as being known for China and Japan, the operator has added a wide range of new options in the past year or so, including Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mongolia and Uganda – with more in the pipeline.

 

“Another huge success for us has been Mexico. We launched Mexico in October, and it was quite a risk for us. We knew there was demand for Mexico,” said King.

 

“A lot of people think Mexico is beaches or beach-and-tour.

 

“We launched a 24-day tour [and] we have seen such strong demand, it is probably another destination where we’d like to put some different options on the table.”