Tai Pan Tours' Lisa Lau & Ann Lee with Steve Gillick
Steve Gillick & Akira Tsushima from City of Tokyo Tourism
Shamim Lila, Sears Travel; Milka Cook, Collacutt Travel; and Pilar Weisselberg, The Joy of Travel
Lila Dong, Happy Holidays; Geetanjali Pathak, Astor Travel & Tours; Miles Atkinson, Atkinson Adventures; and Christine Smith, The Coaching Network
Dumplings and barbeque pork buns are not your average breakfast food. But at Tai Pan Tours’ recent Taste of Asia event held at the Metropolitan Hotel, there was no room for eggs and bacon. 20 travel agents started their day off with these Chinese dim sum delicacies as the Tai Pan team was on hand to spread the message that there’s more to their operation than the yellow buses we see headed toward Casino Rama.
The tour operator has been around for 24 years and has always offered guided tours in North America, Europe and Asia - from a 3-day shopping tour in New York to a 15-day western European tour. The majority of their sales had always come from the Asian market in Canada.
But in May 2013, Tai Pan launched their Explorer brand, a collection of packages and guided tours hosted in 14 Asian countries. Whereas their bus and coach services were always sold direct to the consumer, according to Ann Lee, V.P. of Tai Pan Tours, the Explorer touring product opens up the selling opportunity to the trade with the goal of targeting the mainstream market.
“We want Canadian travel agents to know that we offer more than just local bus and coach services. Our tours are not cookie cutter packages, all tours are fully customizable,” said Lisa Lau, Tai Pan Tours’ Global Development Manager. “And because there are so many foodies now, many of the Explorer tours can be customized into a culinary tour. So it was important for us to give agents the opportunity to try some traditional Chinese food.”
As if everyone’s mouths weren’t watering enough, industry veteran and self-proclaimed Asia expert, Steve Gillick, led a slideshow presentation that highlighted the cuisine and culinary customs of 5 Asian countries featured in the Explorer collection - China, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Korea. Gillick listed his favourite restaurants and explained how agents could incorporate food tourism experiences into specific Tai Pan tours.
Tai Pan Tours will introduce its Explorer brochure in the new year. They’re also working on a B2B site, but the launch date of that is still unknown. Until then, agents can find more information on their website at www.taipantours.com, clicking on the Explorer tab in the navigation bar.
Happy exploring!
