The founder of Wendy Wu Tours wants to make it easier for agents to make bookings, securing the trade “a bigger cut”.
Speaking as the operator celebrates its 25th anniversary, Wendy Wu told a Travel Weekly webcast that even more focus will soon be given to the trade, with “better training” in the works.
“We’re going to make it easier for agents to book,” said Wu, adding: “We’ll make sure the agent will get a bigger cut.”
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In conversation with Travel Weekly editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley, Wu said further training is being prepared on destinations including Korea, Jordan, Egypt and Portugal.
In the future, additional training will be given on Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and central Asia.
Wu, whose business is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, thanked the trade for helping Wendy Wu Tours surpass its 2019 performance.
She said: “With all the support from our wonderful travel agent partners, we grew 20% each month in January and February, then 25% in March. We kept on growing and then in August we grew 70% above 2019 even without China fully returned.”
Wu said the scale of homeworkers’ contribution has grown “phenomenally” and the business is striving to offer them support.
“We always try to make ourselves available,” Wu added.
Other trends she identified included the increasing popularity of solo travel, as well as a growing tendency for people to spend more on their trips and book more than one holiday a year.
Some clients are booking up to four trips in a 12-month period, Wu said.
She expects China will enjoy “phenomenal growth” next year and anticipates that a number of other countries will see similar spikes, including Portugal, Jordan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Japan and Korea.
Other plans include the promotion of railway journeys, Christmas breaks, and a 25th anniversary-themed VIP customer trip on the operator’s ship Victoria Mekong.
Fam trips to China and India are coming up, said Wu, with a slate of trips also scheduled for next year.
“We’re going to do so many fam trips to many countries,” said Wu.