Wendy Wu: how travel expands your mind and "makes you sexy!"

SussexWorld

Wendy Wu, founder of Wendy Wu Tours, doesn't just want you to say that you've had a great time. Success for her is when you book again.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers.

00:06Real pleasure this afternoon to speak to Wendy Wu, founder of Wendy Wu Tours. Now Wendy,

00:10you are coming to Chichester Wednesday 16th of April, 5.30pm to 7.30pm to talk at the Noteveam,

00:18tickets available through Fred Olsen Travel Agents in Chichester. You are going to be talking,

00:23and you are so well qualified to talk about this, a journey through culture and tradition. Now,

00:29lovely that you are coming to Chichester. What are you going to be talking about then?

00:35I am looking forward to it, Phil. I love Chichester.

00:39And you've got so much to draw on, haven't you? How did you start in the travel industry?

00:46Well, I'll give you a one minute version, I hope, totally by accident. Yeah, totally by

00:55accident, Phil. So that, yeah, I designed a holiday, which is called Eight Ancient Cities

01:00and Twenty-Eight Days in Australia for me and my partner at that time. But then he couldn't go

01:08just before we were about to travel. And so I was thinking, oh, I'm going to get all my money back.

01:16And they are putting a little ad in the paper to say, this is Eight Ancient Cities and Twenty-Eight

01:21Days. And this is how much this way we are going to go. And who wants to come? And here I am going

01:28to be your free guide. And Phil, you know, so many people called, said they want to go, they

01:34want to go, they want to go. And that's how I started. And you talk about travel with such

01:40excitement. Why is it so important that we do travel if we can? What does travel do to you,

01:46do you think? I think travel do so much for everybody. One, the holiday makes people

01:54happier. That's why everybody wants to go on holiday. That's one. And also, I think

02:00during your travel, especially going to the destination we go, which is very iconic,

02:05very unique, such as Japan, China, Korea and all these, right? And then it is with so much

02:12knowledge you learn about tradition, it broadens your horizon and enriches your experiences and

02:19make you happy. Plus, it's very sexy, very sexy. And what are those important principles to travel

02:28for you that makes your company a success then? What do you think you have to do?

02:34OK, so Phil, just use that example, because I think a lot of people say,

02:39oh, why do you say sexy? I'll give you one example. And so, for example, that when we

02:46go to Japan, you know, we follow Joanna Lumley's footsteps and we did one of the best kind of

02:53tours in the market. It's called the Japan Cup, OK? Then on that tour, we will go to

03:00not only the good hotels, very good hotels, but we also go to the local hotels, which is

03:06awesome, right? And to a hot spring. And then, you know, most people go there, they will think, oh,

03:14you know, the Japanese bathing, it's naked, so I don't want to go, I don't want to go.

03:19Because we are a specialist tour, so we know how beautiful that is. So therefore, our guide,

03:24we're friendly, we should go, we should go. And to be honest, when you are at this type of

03:29local hotel, the beautiful traditional robe will be laid out on bed waiting for you.

03:35And then you're supposed to wear that to your traditional dinner and that enjoyment, just so

03:41much better, fully immersed, right? And then after that, then you slip out of it. And I mean, slip

03:49everything, right? And then you go into the water, but man to man, woman to woman. And it is absolutely

03:57liberating. You are fully embraced in the nature. And also, it's freedom, like you see. And then

04:04it's so beautiful. The water is a perfect temperature, it's nature with so much healing

04:08power. And when you first, you feel, oh, and guess what? So you feel so beautiful. And so

04:16exactly. And that's what I mean. And that's what it does to you. And your company can persuade

04:22people to take that step, to trust in the place and to do it and to realise it's actually quite

04:28natural, isn't it? Yes, so many people miss out because we know loads of people go to Japan. But

04:36how many actually experience that? But luckily with us, right, we actually, about 50% of our

04:44passengers eventually get to try it, get the courage. And then about 30%, actually, because

04:52once they do it, they will do it again. It's beautiful. And of course, there's so many other

04:56things we do. So for example, in Japan, we actually make wash paper, which is the finest

05:03Japanese artwork based on glowing. And then when we go to Takayama in the mountains,

05:11the locals already boil the special tree barks for six nights and six days, as they have done

05:17for 600 years or 1,000 years. And then our customer gets to join the final two steps of it.

05:24And then they get scooped out the liquid and then bake it, put their own art pieces in it.

05:30Then they get to bring back this piece of paper. After they come home, they often will share,

05:36show to us or show with their friends. And I literally, our colleagues always say,

05:41when they talk about their eyes lit up, they relive the moment. And we see the videos they make.

05:48All these, you know, they are mature travellers and they are 45, 65, 75, 85. And yet every single

05:55one of them is like a schoolgirl, schoolboys. They are just so concentrated, really. And

06:00when you talk about school like that, once again, it's so beautiful and so sexy.

06:06And the key thing is, it's not just that they've had a great time. The key thing for you

06:10is that they come back again, isn't it?

06:13True, true, true. For us, our philosophy is that we don't want to take you, customers,

06:19to go there just to see things. No, no, no. We're not interested in that. We dig deep,

06:25prepare the best itinerary. We want you to go there to fully immerse with local culture,

06:32tradition and history. We want you to live there extraordinarily when you are there with us. And

06:39for us, like with your local travel agency, the thing we have the common goal is that you love it

06:47so much you will come back, travel with us again and again. And that's forever to experience new

06:54things. It's clearly going to be a fascinating talk, Wendy. You'll be speaking A Journey Through

07:00Culture and Tradition at the Novium Museum in Chichester, Wednesday, the 16th of April, 5.30

07:06to 7.30pm. Lovely to meet you. Really lovely to speak to you. Thank you.

07:11Thank you, Phil. And a good afternoon.

07:14And to you.

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