Wendy Wu Tours will this month release a new range of low-priced itineraries aimed at competing with major online rivals.
The new tours will involve a series of 10-day packages priced below $2,000, giving the company an entry level product it believes will help it to better counter the price-led offering of internet giants.
Wendy Wu Tours managing director for Australia & New Zealand Andrew Mulholland said the new range would arm travel agents with an aggressively priced lead-in product that could be booked online in less than two minutes.
“It’s a new range of tours that will allow agents to compete against mass-market online bucket shops,” Mulholland said.
“The feedback from the travel agent community is that they struggle to compete against that lower end of town, so we’ll provide them with a product… that will allow agents to compete at a price point.
“It’s powered by us, so it’s a quality product, and it’s fully packaged. We pay commission and it gives agents a good ability to upsell to the normal product range we offer.”
The new holiday offering was in part a response to increased competition on in the air sector, which had resulted in low fares that favoured price-led online operators.
“A lot of that is driven by the sheer capacity in air that flies out of China to Australian cities,” Mulholland said. “It’s presenting consumers with incredible value to get to China.”
Wendy Wu Tours last month unveiled its new online booking platform in an effort to further streamline the reservations process for travel agents.
Developed in consultation with the company’s tech teams in Australia, the UK and China, it aims to avoid over-the-phone processes and enable travel agents to quickly discover the latest prices, tour information and campaigns on offer.
Key features include a display of individual commissions for each tour at the point of sale and a responsive design allowing users to switch between desktops and mobile devices while booking.
Tours can be booked in a few minutes and agents can also use the platform to manage their earnings under the Wendy Wu Tours ‘Bambu’ loyalty scheme.
