The World’s Most Populous Nation + 1
China News from February 2009, including the Travel Alliance, top hotels in Beijing and Shanghai, Imperial Tours awards, featured tours, client fund protection, and a table tennis experience with Zhang Yining.
Imperial Tours’ last newsletter was published before the birth of Adan, Nancy and my first son. It is appropriate then that this one, the first of a quarterly series, is being sent just days after the birth of our second son, Lev.
This newsletter features:
- Closing The Gap Between Continents — announcing the Travel Alliance, an association of top suppliers.
- A Room with a View — Imperial Tours’ evaluation of the top hotels in Beijing and Shanghai.
- Taking a Bow — Imperial Tours honors its top travel consultants of 2008.
- In The Dream Business — dates of our upcoming FAMs and regular departure group tours.
- US Fed Guarantees Imperial Tours’ Clients’ Funds — how we keep client funds secure.
- Face Off With A Champ — play table tennis with Zhang Yining, reigning Olympic champion, and other champions and coaches.
The Travel Alliance: Closing The Gap Between Continents
The Travel Alliance is an association of award-winning destination specialists, recognized internationally for their enlightened trip planning, insider access and exceptional guides. Leveraging the talents of like-minded tour operators across many countries, the Travel Alliance dedicates itself to delivering tailor-made itineraries of uncompromising quality.
We invite only the best of our peers to join the alliance, and then constantly monitor performance to ensure its continued excellence. As separate companies within individual countries, we have changed the way people travel. As a worldwide travel alliance, we offer you the same expertise across the globe.
When life calls…the world awaits.
A Room With a View: Finding The Perfect Accommodation
In preparation for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2010 Expo in Shanghai, the landscapes of these two metropolises have been revolutionized with a panoply of new openings, from the stylish and quintessentially Chinese Aman Summer Palace in Beijing to the characteristically stylish Park Hyatt in Shanghai.
Which should you select for your clients? Opting for a well-known brand guarantees a certain quality, but for some clients there is little value-added in securing a chain hotel which they could have selected for themselves anyway.
Such clients seek excellence, and with such a broad range of hotels available in many major cities, this is defined as matching the right client to the right hotel.
Taking a Bow: Imperial Tours Honors Its Top Travel Consultants of 2008
Imperial Tours takes great pleasure in thanking all its sales partners for supporting our business in 2008, making it our most successful year to date. In particular, we are extremely grateful to the travel consultants below — our 2008 Travel Agents of the Year. Special plaudits go to Karin Hansen and Stuart Markus, who also both featured on this list in 2007.
- Agents with the highest revenue for a single booking: Michele Cook of Mansour and Karin Hansen of Frosch.
- Agents with the highest revenue for all bookings combined: Stuart Markus of New Act and Karin Hansen of Frosch.
- Agent with the highest number of distinct bookings: Karin Hansen of Frosch.
- Agencies with the highest revenue: Frosch International Travel and Travel Experts.
We thank you with signed copies of Jereme Leung’s cookbook, New Shanghai Cuisine.
In the Dream Business: Our Featured Tours
Did you know that Imperial Tours now offers over 40 nights of luxury travel experiences throughout China?
Besides our two regular FAM trips and well-known FIT services, we also arrange regular departure small group tours, perfect for travelers who enjoy meeting like-minded people as they travel in style. Like all our trips, the group tours offer unparalleled value.
FAM Tour
We would love for you to join a FAM trip. How else can we open your eyes to how unbelievably amazing and interesting China was in its imperial past and is today — leading the world in some disciplines and way behind in others?
Come here, enjoy it and then sell it to your clients. Experience and understand:
- The top sites and destinations.
- Which hotels are for which clients.
- The quality of food in China.
- How to make the best use of your clients’ time by traveling the Imperial Way.
Our next 11-night FAM trip to Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin, and Shanghai begins on March 14.
Imperial Tour
Our benchmark tour, this 13-night itinerary covers the essential destinations in China. Our tours are limited to 20 people, VIP services are standard, and include such features as access to off-limits palaces in the Forbidden City.
Upcoming Imperial Tours are April 14–27 and May 5–18. Both of these tours are guaranteed departure dates.
Special in 2009: our July Imperial Tour will feature a unique Shanghai skyline breakfast-viewing of the longest solar eclipse for the next 130 years.
Family Tour
Our families explore landmarks at a pace that will not tire the young. The Family Tour’s featured activities, such as Peking Opera-style face painting or a kung fu demonstration, will pique the adventurous, while optional spa treatment or shopping can delight any generation.
There is more to travel than just fun and games, and our family tour provides an excellent educational opportunity to learn about China.
This year’s Family Tour begins on August 7, 2009.
US Fed Guarantees Imperial Tours’ Clients’ Funds
In these uncertain times, it is reassuring to know that clients’ funds are as safe as the US Fed. Imperial Tours, together with many of its leading vendors, such as the St. Regis Hotel in Beijing and the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Shanghai, has participated in the Travel Funds Protection Plan operated by National City Bank since 2001.
Recognized for its consumer protection benefits by ASTA and such strictly enforced Seller of Travel laws as that of California, the Travel Funds Protection Plan can claim to be one of the most secure consumer protection plans in the world. One hundred percent of clients’ funds are deposited in separate escrow accounts — one account for each payee — and are held there until five days after the tour has finished. While the funds are held, they are guaranteed in their entirety by the US Fed.
Five days after the tour has finished, on condition that all services were supplied, vendors are paid and the remainder of the funds pass into Imperial Tours’ operating account.
Face Off with the World Champion
Imperial Tours invites you to play ping pong with the world’s reigning Olympic and World champion Zhang Yining. Ms. Zhang, a 27-year-old Beijing native, caught the world’s attention during the 1999 World Table Tennis Championship. Since then, she has been at the top of the sport and has won over 20 gold and silver medals.
Playing ping pong with the best of the best is an example of specialized activities we call “Imperial Moments.” Imperial Tours can supplement any FIT itinerary with a variety of such unique experiences depending on your specific interests.
Want to delve deeper into the Forbidden City? Why not explore it with a Sotheby’s expert. Trying to get into better health? What about a private Tai Chi lesson from a sixth-generation master?
Looking for the perfect armoire? How about shopping with an antique dealer. Curious about doing business in China? Learn about the pitfalls from the first investment banker to come to China. Even when clients have unusual requests, we do everything we can to accommodate them.
Because our operations are China-based, Imperial Tours has the insider knowledge and flexibility that allows our guests more personalized experiences in China.
As the luxury market regains its foothold, China will be sure to extend its relevance as a destination for luxury travelers. Apart from the stunning organization of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the increasing significance of this industrious nation to the world economy, and the continuous development of new destinations, better hotels and more sophisticated restaurants, there is the unchallenged value that China brings to the table.
If business is slow, why not use this time to learn more about China? If you have not yet been on one of our FAM trips, treat yourself, surprise yourself, enjoy yourself.
Sending best regards,
Guy Rubin
Managing Partner of Imperial Tours