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China set to grow as adventure travel spot

By Kim Bowden (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-06-21 15:43

China is set to grow as a destination for adventurous Western travellers after a major Australian-based tour company recently became a wholly foreign owned enterprise (WOFE), becoming the first Australian company in the tourism industry to do so.

Small-group adventure travel company Intrepid Travel celebrated attaining WOFE status with a party in Ritan Park on Monday, which was attended by company directors, past and present staff members and local operators from across China, as well as representatives from the China-Australian Chamber of Commerce and local tourism authorities.

General manager of Intrepid Beijing Marko Soltys, who has been based in Asia for the past seven years, said the day was an important “milestone” in the company’s journey.

"I think back to the first trips that were run here from a small office we had in the Harmony Hotel in Beijing…to then getting more formal and having a representative office and recruiting local staff, to today, becoming a WOFE…this is worth celebrating,” said Soltys, who started with Intrepid Travel as a China-based tour guide.

Darrel Wade, one of the entrepreneurial pair who started the travel company 22 years ago, was also in town to mark the achievement and said becoming a WOFE was vital for the company’s future growth in China.

He added it was especially “fortuitous” that after four years of working to attain the status, it had come amidst other important business developments.

Intrepid Travel and TUI Travel, one of the world’s leading international leisure travel groups, earlier this year announced the formation of PEAK Adventure Travel Group, an alliance of independently managed adventure travel specialists, of which Wade is now chief executive.

The new group will have more than 20 brands with combined revenue of US$374 million and 340,000 passengers globally.

"With the licence here now and the new companies we have as a part of PEAK, our business in China will grow very substantially,” said Wade. “There is an enormous amount of work to do, and an enormous amount of opportunity.”

Guests at the Ritan Park celebration were entertained by Beijing-based band Ember Swift, in addition to taking part in a tai chi lesson.

Intrepid China group leader Karen Zhao, who has been escorting foreign travellers around the country for two years, explained that this kind of cultural experience is typical of what passengers experienced on her tours.

She said the style of travel many Western tourists coming to China want is completely different from that of the domestic market.

"There is none of this, ‘get off the bus, take photos, get back on the bus’, that’s not our style. Those who travel with our company want something different.”

Intrepid Travel company directors, past and present staff members and local operators from across China, as well as representatives from the China-Australian Chamber of Commerce and local tourism authorities, practice tai chi with a master in Beijing’s Ritan Park to celebrate the travel company’s newly-acquired WOFE status on June 20, 2011. [Photo by Kim Bowden]

PEAK Adventure Travel chief executive Darrell Wade practises tai chi at a party in Beijing’s Ritan Park to celebrate Intrepid Travel’s newly-acquired WOFE status on June 20, 2011. [Photo by Kim Bowden]

Intrepid Travel group leader Karen Zhao practises tai chi at a party in Beijing’s Ritan Park to celebrate Intrepid Travel’s newly-acquired WOFE status on June 20, 2011. [Photo by Kim Bowden]

Intrepid Beijing general manager Marko Soltys practises tai chi at a party in Beijing’s Ritan Park to celebrate Intrepid Travel’s newly-acquired WOFE status on June 20, 2011. [Photo by Kim Bowden]