These are tough times – pre-Covid, the operator took 8,675 passengers from the UK, achieving a record £3.8 million pre-tax profit in 2018.

Nevertheless, chief executive Glen Mintrim points out that even in this scenario, the operator expects to break even this year after introducing European tours and reducing its UK staff from 80 to 24.

“Going into 2020, forward bookings were up 25%," Mintrim recalls. "Nobody realised how bad it would get. It sank in in March/April with our cherry blossom tours [to Japan]. We had 1,500 booked in April. We had to cancel them in 2020 and 2021."

MORE: Wendy Wu Tours launches £1,000 trade incentive and revamped rewards scheme

The redundancies were made in late 2020, which saw a £2.4 million loss. But even with its main destinations still closed, things are still looking up for the operator, with 2022 sales up 4% on 2019.

Indeed, Mintrim reveals that if 2022 were to have the same level of business as 2019, Wendy Wu Tours would triple that year’s profits (£1.2 million) due to being a leaner company.

But this is not the way ahead: “We are planning to recruit 80 new staff,” says Mintrim. Further investment will include digital, which has helped drive success in direct bookings, although half of the operator’s UK sales currently come through agents.

During Covid, a series of virtual tea parties were staged for regular clients, with tea and scones sent to customers. As part of this, destination-themed ’party rooms’ led to “quite a good conversion rate” says Mintrim. He refers to the tactic as the Party Revolution. “During it, we realised clients have had a year of this [virtual contact] and all want to travel.”

Catering for that pent-up demand in the near future is a challenge. In the UK, Wendy Wu Tours is primarily known for offering China, but this remains off-limits.

“We have budgeted for maybe September for Asia opening, but not China,” Mintrim says. This led him and his team to start offering European tours – including Scotland - in August. These went very well, with Scotland sold out last summer and Christmas, mainly via direct channels.

“It’s not quite got through to the trade though – we’ve realised there is a job to do," Mintrim admits.

He stresses how safe the all-inclusive touring concept has been during the pandemic. “We have lateral flow tests every day on the coach. We try and keep clients in a bubble; that’s gone down very well.”

Another new destination, Portugal, also sold out last year. “We have made sure our tours are nothing like other operators’,” he says.

It is a new world for the specialist, and for travel in general: “We’re not used to customers travelling within six months," he stresses. "Right now, the industry needs them to travel within six months. I would expect to see a lot of campaigns around Europe."

Nevertheless, Asia is where Wendy Wu’s strength is, and Mintrim is hopeful the cherry blossom will bloom once again for his clients, with departures a “50%” possibility.

China, though, remains “the big one” for the operator. “China could say next week, ‘you’re allowed in’, but it might be October or next year. In our budgets, we don’t have it for this year.”

Mintrim predicts Thailand will be one of the first countries to reopen. “Thailand is mainstream, but we’ve come up with a tour to places people have never heard of.”

Sri Lanka, now open, has tours departing in February and March, with clients “very keen to go”.

Mintrim is convinced his other customers will return as soon as destinations reopen. The alternative, as he puts it – and something to ponder for any wavering consumer - is simple.

“Covid probably isn’t going away for five to 10 years – if you live by that rule, it means a luxury sentence at home watching Netflix."