More than 20 top travel agents were welcomed to the Morgan Hotel in Dublin by John Booty of Wendy Wu Tours. Once everyone had arrived, they all dined and, having been fed and watered, we moved to a conference room for a presentation, reports Hilary Drumm.
Emirates and Wendy Wu have partnered together to focus on destinations such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Shanghai in China, Taipei in Taiwan, Osaka and Tokyo in Japan, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Delhi in India, and Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
Philippo Rocchi, Emirates, spoke about the Boeing 777 and what is available in the different classes:
First Class: The Game Changer: True luxury with your own private hotel room in the sky with a 32″ screen. Game Changing Technology includes temperature controls and mood lighting, virtual windows and soft leather seating reminiscent of a Mercedes Benz S Class.
Business Class: Each seat has access to its own private bar and now has 23” screens.
Economy Class: provide strollers between one gate and another and have access to ICE: Information Communication Entertainment, which has over 4,500 channels of music and films and is available in different languages.
Free drinks and free food are available with 24-26 choices of vegetarian meals. All food is catered within three hours.
Emirates fly 70% of Wendy Wu’s business from Ireland.
John Booty, Sales Manager Ireland and Isle of Man, Wendy Wu Tours, gave the background of Wendy Wu. She took her first group to China in 1994 and now has 70 group itineraries to almost all countries in Asia. Wendy Wu headquarters are in London and are the UK and Ireland’s number one Asia tour operator.
They provide fully inclusive packages: flights, accommodation, meals, touring, trains, cruises, cultural shows, guides who are fluent in English and have at least five years’ experience and are on hand 24 hours a day.
Wendy Wu are the only tour operator to provide visa services and have been awarded consumer and trade awards.
They provide 103 different tours across Asia and Latin America, 735 group departures across 35 countries, and 1,500 seats a day to Asia from Ireland – 720 of which are with Emirates.
Some 10,000 new Wendy Wu 2020-2021 brochures have been delivered to Ireland and they have already run out. Business is up 27% on last year – which is not surprising when their Cherry Blossom tours (March – April) are sold out one year in advance.
Wendy Wu have a variety of tours, including:
Classic: fully inclusive tours for groups of maximum size 28
Flexible: for those who want more choice in what they do and some free time, group size 18
Solo: customers travelling solo, group size 18
Go Beyond: this is a new tour providing off the beaten track destinations and more cultural experiences, maximum group size 24
Active: more energetic pursuits which include hiking and biking, maximum group size 18
Exclusive: 5-star accommodation with exclusive experiences, maximum group size 18
The presentation was followed by a quiz and a prize draw was held.
Dublin Prize Winners:
- Tatiana Soukhanova, Skytours: Winner of the Victoria Mekong Cruise (cruise only) for two adults
- Debbie Durnin, TUI Clare Hall: Winner of the fam trip place
- Karen O’Neil, Abbey Travel: Winner of the agent self-fam trip to India (land only)
Prize winners at a similar event in Cork:
- Katarina Trnikova, J Barter Travel: Winner of the Victoria Mekong Cruise (cruise only) for two adults
- Mary Lee Johnson, Lee Travel: Winner of the fam trip place
- Stephanie Finn, Dawson Travel: Winner of the agent self-fam trip to India
A very relaxed and informative evening was enjoyed by all and whatever your clients want to experience in Asia and Latin America, Wendy Wu Tours provide it all.
