Escorted tour operator Wendy Wu Tours has seen a surge in bookings thanks to strong support from agents, special offers and ‘vaccine confidence’.
It is adding capacity for 2022 departures, especially in Japan, and extending its current special offers to maintain the momentum.
The Far East specialist reported that cumulative bookings for the last week of January 2021 were up by 76% year-on-year, with revenue up by 42% on the same week.
It said the success over the past six weeks was thanks to “an incredibly positive response from the trade” to special offers and travel confidence due to the vaccine programme.
The offers of free worldwide flights for 2021 and 2022 departures and no single supplements for solo travellers on the most popular tours have been extended to the end of February.
John Warr, global sales director at Wendy Wu said: “We can’t thank agents enough for their continued support.
“Despite lockdown our agents are still there supporting us every step of the way.
“Our trade support team are actively engaging with agents through a series of highly effective and informative webinars, giving destination support as well as helping agents to really utilise these offers with their clients.
“We are getting really positive feedback from agents saying how our special offers are helping to convert and close sales whilst at the same time providing great commissions.
“Our average passenger value has risen from £4,000 to £4,900 over the past six months, with more customers making multiple bookings and for longer tours.
“With commissions paid on the value of the whole tour and with passenger spend increasing, this is good news for agents as commissions are now significantly higher.”