This year marks a special time for Wendy Wu Tours as we celebrate our 20th Anniversary. Since the company was founded in Sydney, Australia in 1998, it’s been quite a journey for Wendy Wu. Challenges, successes, innovations and celebrations have made the company what it is today; an award-winning global tour operator*, and the future is looking brighter than ever!
THE WENDY WU STORY
Wendy Wu in the early days at the Sydney Office
Born in Tibet, Wendy spent her childhood living in Sichuan, Shanghai and Jiangsu Province, and travelling extensively with her parents. “When I was a child, travel was frequent to say the least,” says Wendy. “My parents were always travelling and I went with them. Ever since I was born I was travelling all the time. One of my most memorable trips was to cruise down the Yangtze River from Chongqing through the Three Gorges to Shanghai long before it was on the tourist map. It was mostly cargo ships in those days.” With this intimate knowledge and passion of her home country, it seems only natural that Wendy should have a career in the travel industry.
But it wasn’t until she lived in Australia for a few years and visited much of the country that she really got the travel bug, “Having seen so much of Australia I decided that I really wanted to go back and explore again the country of my birth,” Wendy confides. “And after a lot of research I put together an itinerary that included all of the essential sights as well as some of the hidden gems. Through my knowledge of China, I could visit many fascinating places that were unknown to the western world.”
A Wendy Wu group in Myanmar.
Wendy decided to advertise her itinerary in a local newspaper and she was inundated with calls, showing her that there was a huge demand for travel to China and a big gap in the market; the idea of starting a travel company was born. Wendy approached a travel agency in Sydney and developed a partnership in which she developed and promoted her own tours through the agency. In 1998, Wendy left the travel agency and started her own company and the rest, as they say, is history…
WENDY WU TOURS THROUGH THE YEARS
2000 – Wendy Wu hosts the first tour from the western world to Lhasa, Tibet called Tibetan Dreams.
2001 – Tours are introduced to Sichuan’s remote Nine Villages Valley and the wonderful Zhangjiajie National Park. Wendy Wu also launches tours to Vietnam.
2004 – Tours are launched to magnificent India to explore the wonders this destination has to offer.
2009 – Wendy Wu introduces the famous ‘Solar Eclipse’ tour of China and wins the Escorted Tour Company of the Year award!*
2012 – Tours are launched to Japan with the welcoming of ‘Tailormade’ experts to create unique tours together with the group tour programme.
2013 – Wendy Wu Tours wins two very prestigious awards at the British Travel Awards.*
2015 – The ‘Exclusive Collection’ is announced to promote the luxury touring range as well as the immersive adventure tours range.
2017 – Tours to South America are revealed. Wendy Wu Tours is received into the British Travel & Hospitality Hall of Fame alongside Richard Branson and Thomas Cook.
2018 – The exciting Solo Tours range is started. Wendy Wu Tours wins Escorted Tour Company of the Year* for the 7th time running!
* Click here to take a look at all of our awards!
A Wendy Wu group tour in China
2018 also marks the 20th Anniversary of Wendy Wu Tours, an extremely important year. The company has launched brand new tours to incredible destinations to celebrate along with fantastic new brochures full of inspiration for your next trip and a fantastic new magazine – Escape! Get yours today!
