Wendy Wu unveils its first bookable site for agents
Wendy Wu Tours has created a bookable website for the trade for the first time.
The operator said the site, officially launched this week, would make life easier for agents and drastically cut booking times.
The trade portal has been developed over the past 10 months, with the UK the first market to receive the facility.
The site has been successfully piloted with 150 agents in the UK over the past three weeks, said group chief executive Joe Karbo, who believes booking times will be cut from 10 to 15 minutes to two to five minutes.
“We wanted to enable agents to have the best user experience and help them save time by booking online,” he said.
“We also believe there is room for continued growth in agent sales; we hope we will pick up more agents by having a bookable website.”
The password-protected site features all group tours. Previously all bookings were made over the phone. Wendy Wu Tours will still take phone bookings, particularly for tailor-made itineraries.
The agent rewards scheme Bamboo Club has been intregrated into the site, and will update agents’ reward points when they book.
It launches with special deals, including free flights, and offers price parity.
The new website has been well received by agents.
Zoe Franklin of Travel Club Elite said: “It is so easy to use and very user-friendly. The fact that we can now complete the booking online ourselves, 24 hours a day is a game changer.”
Helen Price of Aspen Travel added: “This new website is a breakthrough for escorted touring. It’s so quick. We also like the fact that we can manage our Bambu Club rewards and see the commission figures for every tour.”
The website has been bookable for consumers since March, but founder Wendy Wu stressed the focus remained firmly on agents.
She said: “Everything we do is focused on agents; our investment, our vision, it’s all about agents. We know the future of travel is online.”
The portal will be rolled out to Australia, New Zealand and the US in the coming weeks.
