Wendy Wu hails record January with sales up 44%

Asia specialist Wendy Wu Tours has claimed a 44% rise in bookings during a record breaking peak January sales period.

Visits to the operator’s website grew 38% last month over January 2016.

Japan was second only to China as Wendy Wu Tours’ most booked destination in January, driven by a 390% rise in visits to the Japan webpage online.

Japan and India attracted the biggest overall growth rates with a doubling of bookings to the former and a hike of 200% in group tours to the latter.

Visits to the India webpage rose by 293%, while Vietnam saw a 68% increase.

Bookings to China grew 20% year-on-year in January, with rising interest in active and adventure travel.

Travellers are increasingly booking tours to more off the beaten track destinations with Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet showing a spike in popularity.

They also plan to spend longer visiting China, with an average trip duration of 17 days.

Commercial director Joe Sutcliffe said: “We are over the moon with our record breaking January, which has been the best month in the history of Wendy Wu Tours.

“What’s particularly pleasing is that we are seeing growth in all destinations and styles of tour, and the trade has been a key factor in driving this growth.

“We are seeing a growing trend amongst our customers to start spending their savings now, with interest rates so low, there’s a definite feeling of ‘let’s just go for it!’.”