WENDY Wu Tours has launched its first fully inclusive Cruise & Tour holidays collection, CW can exclusively reveal, with a selectionof nine itineraries now available to book.
The collection, which officially launches in Australia tomorrow, combines cruises with Wendy Wu’s land tours, in a strategic move to leverage the company’s expertise in land travel, and address the increasing desire for seamless, multifaceted holidays.
Wendy Wu noted growing demand for comprehensive travel experiences offering both relaxation and cultural immersion, and will partner with Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, and Azamara to deliver the inaugural collection.
The Cruise & Tour Holidays, which were first launched in the UK, feature return flights from Australia and all connecting transfers, with cruises including a balcony stateroom, dining, drinks and onboard entertainment.
Land touring includes four-star hotels, all meals, touring with expert guides, sightseeing activities, entrance fees and visas for Australian passports.
Managing Director Simon Bell described the collection as “the biggest element of the biggest product expansion in our company’s history”.
“This is the biggest element of our roadmap…it has already launched in the UK and has been selling like absolute hotcakes,” he told CW.
“I’m really excited to see how it continues to develop in this market as well.”
Bell said the collection was born out of a desire to broaden what its itineraries offer travellers.
“This is really about giving our customers a really new and exciting way to travel,” he added.
“They love the relaxation part of the journey that you get from cruising, and they also love going deeper into a destination with touring, so it’s kind of meshing the two of them together and giving people the best of both worlds,” Bell said.
He noted the pairing of a cruise with a land tour is a popular travel style in the United Kingdom, with Wendy Wu believing appetite for the product will grow in Australia.
Wendy Wu’s business development team will be out on the road from tomorrow to help educate the travel trade about the collection.
The company is also supporting the launch with a limited-time offer of $1,200 off per couple across every departure.
“There’s posters, a social media kit, there’s an amazing offer that’s available, we have a team of five BDMS now that will be out in all states visiting agents to train them on the product,” Bell said.
Wendy Wu’s ‘Japan by Land & Sea’ itinerary is one of the highlights of the new collection.
The voyage travels for 24 days from $20,290ppts.
Travellers will begin by discovering Tokyo, Mount Fuji and Kyoto, before boarding Azamara’s Azamara Pursuit to circumnavigate Japan’s largest island, Honshu.
There is also a ‘India by Land, Southeast Asia by Sea’ itinerary which travels for 26 days from $14,380 per person twin share.
Travellers will venture from the west of Asia to the east, passing through some of the continent’s booming cities and exploring history, culture and tradition.
Passengers will cruise on board Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Solstice and explore India’s Golden Triangle by land before hopping over to Singapore to cruise across Southeast Asia, and finishing in Hong Kong.
CLICK HERE to explore the Cruise & Tour collection. MS