Testimonials, Page 21

Testimonials

"I am sorry to have taken so long to reply to your message. As I am sure you will know, we much enjoyed our visits to Beijing and Tsian because of your excellent guides and drivers. We were also able to survive in Beijing for five days on our return without any help because of the advice and information you and your guides had given us. We were glad to have added Banpo to our itinerary and recommend that you include it for other visitors. We also think that Mutianyu was well worth the longer journey from reports we had from other visitors that Badaling was too crowded and commercialised.
The entertainment, lunches and dinners you arranged were all much appreciated by us and we should not have found them without your help. We have had some photographs taken of us in our judges robes which we are sending to the two guides which we are sure will amuse them. Thank you again for making it such an enjoyable and memorable holiday. We shall certainly recommend Warrior Tours to our friends. We are very sorry that the Americans bombed your Embassy in Belgrade the day after we returned to England. I promise you we had nothing to do with it!"

Client's information:
Michael and Anne Cook , < >,

"Our tour was most successful and we were pleased with the arrangements you made. All arrangements in Kunming were in order and to our satisfaction. The local guide Judy was very helpful. A spare half day to walk around the city and shops would have been of interest. We enjoyed Lijiang very much. The local guide Huang Huaihai we considered the best of our tour. The Guan Fang Hotel (5 star) was a very nice hotel however we felt that the Gelan Hotel being located near the entrance to the old city would have been more convenient for walking around and perhaps have more Chinese atmosphere. We missed going to the Yunshanping Pastureland. The day was partly cloudy however the biggest deterrent was the long delays to get on the chairlift. 1.5 hours on the way up and 1.5 hours again on return. 3 hours standing in a queue is very much a waste of half a days sightseeing. The tourist management should look at some system of reservation for tour groups to book allocated times to use the chairlift. The Dali sector was well balanced and all aspects satisfactory. The Jinghong sector was perhaps the most disappointing. The three day programme did not seem to be very well organised and there was a lot of spare time and duplication. The visit to the National Minorities Park etc on 29 May was good. The guide advised us that the Royal General Temple and the Buddhist White Pagoda scheduled for May 31 were what we were seeing in the Minorities Park Manting Temple and Manting park on 29 May. 30 May being specially selected as a Sunday we had expected to be able to see the famed Sunday early morning market at Menghai with its many colourful tribal people in National costume and jewellery. We were advised that this was not possible. It could easily have been scheduled as our only other activity for the day was to travel to Menghan and visit the Ganlanba and check in late at the Scientist Activity Guesthouse. The guide did take us to an extra market in Menghan however we do not believe this to be as colourful as the hilltribes in Menghai or Menghun. It would only have meant an earlier start for the day perhaps around 6am. 31 May the overnight stay at the Gardens was very good and we had a nice quiet inspection of the gardens before returning to Jinghong. The other activities scheduled for this day had already been attended on May 29 (above). We enquired why the return to Jinghong was the same route as the outward journey and not Via Mengyang and the Elephant Banyan Tree and were advised that although the alternative route was shown as a main road it was in fact a difficult road to travel with many large trucks! To tighten up this schedule a return flight to Kunming on the evening of May 31 would have allowed a free morning in the city of Kunming to shop and walk around on June 1.
All meals were upto the standard expected, Yunnan Air flights were all on time and efficient and the hospitality of the Chinese people wonderful."

Client's information:
David & Fran Luxon , < >,

"We are finally back in New York after our tour to Silk Road and also after spending about a week in Beijing. First let me say that our experience on the Tour was very positive overall and we are very impressed with EduTours. We will not hesitate to recommend EduTours to other people in the future. In fact we have already recommended EduTours to many of our friends in Beijing and when I was posted to Beijing with UNDP we have used your company many times for our guests. Women Shi Zhong Guo Tong! We are very familiar with China, having spent five years in Beijing and having travelled extensively to many areas of China, including many poor areas where we have projects on Poverty Allevation. So we understand the business, social and cultural environment in china very well. I take this opportunity to provide you with some feedback:
What you are doing well: 1. Very fast prompt reply to all queries by email. Excellent email website. Comprehensive information on your tour. 2. Itinerary, hotels, etc organised carefully. 3. Pricing competitive. 4. You are receptive to feedback. This is a very important feature enabling you to improve your service. In fact, I suggest that as part of your standard procedures, you should ask guests to fill in a form to provide feedback (like for hotel service).
Problem: It is unfortunate that the problem with the train happened. How can we be informed suddenly on the day that the train schedule has been changed? Maybe more explanations should have been provided and what alternative arrangements would be made to make our journey smooth. (instead of us asking for it). I understand that sometimes it is the problem with your local agent. Certainly, they did not explain clearly what caused the change in schedule and who was responsible. It is important to accept responsibility and then to propose alternatives (e.g. some suggestions: next train, no disruption in programme, extra performance or special dinner to make up for the time having to wait for the next train, provision of bathroom to have a shower as it is very hot during that period).
The idea is: 1) Advise the guest of the problem asap, 2) explain what caused the problem, 3) accept responsibility, 4) fix the problem asap, 5) offer some token compensation to minimize the disruption/incovenience caused. That way, the guests will be inconvenienced but will be understanding.
In the end we were happy with the resolution but only after we got angry and had to request for a few things ourselves.
Improvement: Meals in general were good. However, the quantity was too much. I think this will vary from guests to guests, groups to groups. Maybe it is advisable to ask the guests/groups, as the tour progresses, on whether there should be a change in menu or quantity. For us, 2 adults and 2 children, 12 dishes pre meal were just too much! I know this is the standard but maybe it is time to change the standard! Most days we would be happy with 3 or 4 dishes or even 1 sandwich for lunch, for a change. The idea is to be flexible, if possible, to the requirement of the guests. Maybe it is too difficult to change the standard meals but if you manage to tailor it more to the guests taste (especially for foreign guests), it will be a major improvement in your service (for all tours actually!).
Conclusion: Mr Wang, please take these suggestions in good spirit. As I said, overall the experience was very good. In fact it was one of the better tours we have been on in China, as we have travelled extensively. We look forward to using your tour agency again in the future and we certainly hope to refer other guests to you."

Client's information:
Antoine King , < >,

"The tours were great in both services and accomodation except that the tour guide (Mrs Tong) in Beijing was not knowledgeble enough to explain all the historical details and events. She was not attentive and initiative at all as we had to ask many questions to get one anwer. We were very disappointed with her quality as we spent the longest time in Beijing but did not complain to her as she was a nice old lady. However, I did attach a note when gave her the tips. One additional point is that the train from Shanghai to Souzhou was old and not clean. Ive learned in Shanghai that people actually take a one day trip to Souzhou by mini Bus and back to Shanghai on the same day which is quite a good idea since nothing to do in Souzhou at nite. Overall, we were satisfied with the trip and certainly would recommend to our friends and will pass yr business cards around."

Client's information:
Julie Lam , < >,

"It was a good trip overall, quite an experience for myself and my family. The tourist guide and driver for the first part (Urumqi and Turpan) are very nice and the arrangements are well thought out. So I paid them a little bit more on tips. The tourist guide for the second part (Dung Huang) is so-so, there are slacks in the itinerary. He sent us to the hotel to sleep for 3 hours for both afternoon. On the trip to the sand dune, he asked me if there is camel ride included. It seemed to me that if I didnt insist then he would not arrange camel ride or asked me to pay for it. But anyway the tour of the Mogao Gotto was good. Thank you for the arrangement."

Client's information:
Carson Ip , < >,

"Dear Nelson, the tour was very well organized and executed. I thank you, Wang Chi-ri and the rest of your team, and I will surely recommend you with other friends travelling to China."

Client's information:
Mario Montero , < >,

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