Can you imagine booking your client’s tour, flights, accommodation AND travel visa in under TWO minutes? That includes all research and payment. Keep dreaming, right? Never gonna happen.
Nope, not a dream and it has happened.
Wendy Wu Tours has launched a new website where Travel Agents can book their customer’s entire itinerary (including visa) in just a couple of minutes and without ever picking up the phone.
Unveiled overnight, the innovative new trade site works similarly to an OTA but is only accessible to Travel Agents and comes with commission benefits.
According to Wendy Wu Tours Australia’s Managing Director, Andrew Mulholland, the website was designed specifically to give Travel Agents back their time by allowing them to secure holidays for their clients completely online and in under two minutes – or one minute and 22 seconds to be specific.
“We want to continue to make your [Travel Agents] life easy.”
Andrew Mulholland, Wendy Wu Tours Australia Managing Director
“This has been at the forefront of Wendy’s strategy since her first days of training.”
Wendy Wu herself concurred, saying her biggest frustration over the years was seeing how long Travel Agents spent on the phone, either waiting to speak to someone or to complete a booking.
She said it’s painful and costly for Agents to sit on the phone and it “had to change”.
“From this point on, you’ll never have to wait for Wendy Wu Tours again.”
Wendy Wu, Wendy Wu Tours Founder
“On the new trade website, there’s no waiting, no delays and you can do it at any time that suits you,” she added.
For Joe Karbo, Wendy Wu Tours Chief Executive, the new website is about giving consultants choice when it comes to booking.
“We’ve transformed the business over the last 12 months from being 100% offline to completely online,” he explained.
“We’ve built this online technology, as Wendy said, to allow Agents to book online but at the same time we still have our call centre facilities and we’re still printing brochures.”
Need proof that the site is as convenient as Wendy and the team claim? He it is:
Start by logging onto the website (or register if you haven’t already)…
Search for the tour desired using the intuitive search field, pick the travel dates, the departure airport and the number of passengers…
Hit ‘book’ to begin the booking journey…
Pick the number of rooms needed, whether they need to be twin or double and add-in any special requests…
Select the included flights or scroll through other airline and departure options…
If visas are needed, simply select the number required…
Then all that’s left to do is check the booking, fill in Agent details, enter passenger details, choose the payment account, agree to the T&Cs and then…
Hit ‘book now’.
The initial phase of the website allows Agents to book any of Wendy Wu Tours’ group tours. The tour operator hopes to roll out further options where consultants can add dynamic hotels with dynamic pricing towards the end of the year. Click here to register or log into the site.
Mulholland said the website has already made its first booking, with an Agent securing an itinerary for their client at 5.33pm on Tuesday evening, during which he/she earned $1,200 in commission.
Convenience aside, consultants who book Wendy Wu Tours through the new website will receive Bamboo Reward Points. Points are earned with every booking and can be exchanged for gift vouchers.
Additionally, an agency experiencing volume growth via the site will be rewarded with additional marketing support as well as additional access to discounted travel for Agents and friends.
The new Wendy Wu Tours trade website follows a range of recent initiatives from the operator, including relaunched tailor-made product, a redesigned logo and new destinations.
Next month, the Asia specialist is also planning to release a new range of product, which will enable Agents to compete with mass market online shops.