Biz Unusual

Doing business in fine style

By Li Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-21 17:00

A sea of green awaits visitors at Huya in Sichuan province.[Photo by SunPala China / Provided to China Daily]

Founded in December 2007, Trip TM, Beijing's self-described largest tailor-made travel company, has seen its business soar in the past three years, going from less than 200 regular clients to 20,000, despite the financial crisis.

More such companies are joining the apparently lucrative market every day, according to Cui. Some focus on just one field, such as diving or mountain climbing, while others are more general.

Some traditional travel agencies are also joining the competition. Huayuan International Travel Agency started to provide costumed-made service and it organized a wine-tasting group to visit Bordeaux in France two years ago, according to Sun Lichan, the marketing director of the agency.

China's first tailor-made travel agency was Guangzhou-based Panden Club, founded in 2002, which organized Chinese mainland's first group of tourists traveling to South Pole.

According to Yuan Jianxiong, general manger of the club, the increasing market for this kind of travel stems from more Chinese people wanting unique experiences. He said that those who choose this way of traveling focus more attention on exclusivity than on price. A special schedule is their first requirement.

Sun Pala, founded in 2009, offers a close meeting with the teacher of Bhutan's king in its upcoming Bhutan tour.

"Participants will have a dinner with the teacher at his home and have a face-to-face talk with him," said Wu. The trip is priced between 40,000 and 50,000 yuan, double the average price of a Bhutan trip.

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Trip TM once organized an Zen tour, with participants practicing Zen meditation, reading Buddhist classics and eating simple food and vegetables at a temple hidden deep in a mountain valley.

"A trip is an experience and includes the before, during and after parts of the trip," said Su Yong after returning from a tailor-made trip to the North Pole with a small group of six people this April.

A board member of a Beijing-based hi-tech company, Su has visited both the South Pole and North Pole, and the Amazon rainforest on tailor-made trips in the past two years.

"It is a kind of escape and the best way of relaxing from the great pressure of modern life," said Su.

Trip TM has detailed records of its previous clients' habits, so that if they return they can cater to their every whim, for a surcharge of an extra 20 percent.

"We even keep records of their sleeping habit, such as what kind of pillows they like or whether they like soft beds or hard ones," said Jie.