by Lucy Ward
Travelling back in time to explore ancient civilisations is a rewarding change from sea and sand.
#1 -‘Paradise’ regained – in China
This two-week tour begins with a visit to the tranquil courtyards and majestic architecture of Beijing’s Forbidden City; the bustle of Shanghai’s ever-developing urban landscape provides a contrasting conclusion. In between, the guided tour moves from the Great Wall to Xi’an, the former capital of China and home to the terracotta warriors –
by Lucy Ward
Travelling back in time to explore ancient civilisations is a rewarding change from sea and sand.
#1 -‘Paradise’ regained – in China
This two-week tour begins with a visit to the tranquil courtyards and majestic architecture of Beijing’s Forbidden City; the bustle of Shanghai’s ever-developing urban landscape provides a contrasting conclusion. In between, the guided tour moves from the Great Wall to Xi’an, the former capital of China and home to the terracotta warriors – the great thirdcentury BC wonder featuring some 13,000 uniquely moulded figures commissioned by the tyrannical emperor Qinshihuangdi. The tour moves to Guilin and Hangzhou – the favourite cities of Marco Polo and a paradise on Earth, according to a Chinese saying. Along the way, cultural experiences from a tea ceremony to dinner in a top Shanghai restaurant build a rich picture of China old and new. The group tour costs from US$9,670 (Dh35,500) per person, not including flights. Visit www.imperialtours.net, or call 00 44 845 1304090.
© April 2009, The National
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2009
Contact :
Margot Kong
Imperial Tours
(888)888-1970
margot@imperialtours.net
Imperial Tours Gives Back
How Ultra-Luxury Travel Helps Children in China
SAN FRANCISCO, Ca – (May 26, 2009) – Imperial Tours continues a tradition of social contribution by dedicating a playground in rural China to the Virtuoso agents attending
their On-site Table at the Travel Mart in Las Vegas. A memorial stone commemorating the
expansion of a school playground was recently presented by the headmaster of the rural
school in China to thank the luxury agents seated at Imperial Tours' On-site table at the
2008 Virtuoso Travel Mart. This builds on the first phase of the project in which former
guests, travel agents and Imperial Tours contributed to the design, drainage and
construction of a large, new playground area.
"It is great to remember the good that our industry does, not just in providing manifold
employment opportunities to local economies and investing in out-of-the-way areas that
might not otherwise have a hopeful economic future, but also in charitable acts like this, "
says Guy Rubin, Managing Partner of Imperial Tours.
The company has offered responsible travel since 2002, when Nancy Kim, co-founder of Imperial Tours, spearheaded a fundraising ball for the daunting challenge of enrolling 700,000 children into the China Special Olympics program. The fund-raising ball has since turned into an annual event, raising more than $330,000 for Special Olympics China. Imperial Tours also supports the affiliated Best Buddies program, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment.
Imperial Tours' social contributions span the Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, supporting schools in Guilin and Lijiang. Activities have included funding the tuition and educational expenses for underprivileged children and providing desks to a rural school. Itineraries with visits to Shangri-La or Lhasa provide immediate and direct assistance to local communities by utilizing ground-handling services run entirely by Tibetans.
With so many companies using a "sustainable" marketing spin, it can be difficult to find those pro-actively helping local communities while enriching the traveler. Long before it was chic for companies to give back, Imperial Tours has always offered its guests a chance to participate in its investment in rural communities and the educational development of China's most disadvantaged children.
ABOUT IMPERIAL TOURS
Imperial Tours is the leading luxury tour operator based in China offering luxury set-departure and private tours, combining local expertise with the high levels of service and quality expected by sophisticated Western travelers. Imperial Tours has first-hand knowledge of world-class hotels and restaurants as well as the history, culture, arts, and little-known exclusive destinations within China. Founded by Westerners in 1999, Imperial Tours has offices in Beijing, San Francisco, Frankfurt and the UK. For more information, visit www.imperialtours.net or call (888)888-1970.
The World's Most Populous Nation+ 1
China News February, 2009
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Imperial Tours' last newsletter was published before the birth of Adan, Nancy and my first son. It's appropriate then that this one, the first of a quarterly series, is being sent just days after the birth of our second son, Lev.
This newletter features:
Closing The Gap Between Continents – Announcing the Travel Alliance, an association of top suppliers
A Room with a View – Imperial Tours' evaluation of the top hotels in Beijing and Shanghai
Taking a Bow – Imperial Tours honors its top travel consultants of 2008
In The Dream Business – dates of our upcoming FAMs and regular departure group tours
US Fed Guarantees Imperial Tours' Clients' Funds – Find out how We Keeps Client Funds Secure
Face Off With A Champ – Play tabletennis with Zhang Yi Ning, reigning Olympics Champion, and other champions & coaches
The Travel Alliance – Closing The Gap Between ContinentsThe Travel Alliance is an association of award-winning destination specialists, recognized internationally for their enlightened trip planning, insider access and exceptional guides. Leveraging the talents of like-minded tour operators across many countries, The Travel Alliance dedicates itself to delivering tailor-made itineraries of uncompromising quality. We invite only the best of our peers to join the alliance, and then constantly monitor performance to ensure its continued excellence. As separate companies within individual countries, we have changed the way people travel. As a world-wide travel alliance, we offer you the same expertise across the globe. When life calls…the world awaits. Please click on any company logo below to visit each company's website for further details.
A Room With a View: Finding The Perfect Accommodation In preparation for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2010 Expo in Shanghai, the landscape of these two metropolises have been revolutionized with a panoply of new openings from the stylish quintessentially Chinese characteristics of the Aman Summer Palace in Beijing, to the characteristically stylish breeding of the Park Hyatt in Shanghai. Which should you select for your clients? Opting for a well-known brand guarantees a certain quality, but for some clients there is little value-added in securing a chain hotel which they could have selected for themselves anyway. Such clients seek excellence, and with such a broad range of hotels available in many major cities, this is defined as matching the right client to the right hotel. To make informed recommendations to your clients, inquire about the top properties here.
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Taking a Bow – Imperial Tours Honors Its Top Travel Consultants of 2008
Imperial Tours takes great pleasure in thanking all its sales partners for supporting our business in 2008 to make it our most successful to date. In particular, we are extremely grateful to the travel consultants below – our 2008 Travel Agents of the Year. Special plaudits go to Karin Hansen and Stuart Markus who also both featured on this list in 2007.
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"Best tour experience I ever had."
– Margot Halperin, Bee Kalt Travel |
Michele Cook (Mansour) and Karin Hansen (Frosch)
We thank you with signed copies of Jereme Leung's cookbook, New Shanghai Cuisine.
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"I have traveled often with exceptional tour companies but have never had an experience equal to this. Exceptional in every way!" – JanVerhage
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Did you know that Imperial Tours now offers over 40 nights of luxury travel experiences throughout China?
Besides our two regular FAM trips and well-known FIT services, we also arrange regular departure small group tours, perfect for travelers who enjoy meeting like-minded people as they travel in style. Like all our trips, the group tours offer unparalleled value:
FAM Tour
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"The food was amazing – I have the feeling the places you took us were not exactly typical. But as long as you take our clients to those places – that's what matters."
– Sharon Elsen, Cardoza-Bungey Travel |
We would love for you to join a FAM trip! How else can we open your eyes to how unbelievably amazing and interesting China was in its imperial past and is today – leading the world in some disciplines and way behind in others? By hook and by crook, sometimes depsite itself, this country is going places, and you won't find out how and why by reading the papers or watching tv. Come here, enjoy it and then sell it to your clients. Experience and understand:
Our next 11-night FAM trip to Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, and Shanghai begins on March 14. For availability information, please inquire with Margot Kong in San Francisco.
Imperial Tour
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"Laurie and I travelled 110 days last year with some of the best respected tour companies in the world. Imperial Tours was "THE BEST" company we travelled with in planning and executing the trip. Great job!!" – Kenneth Goodman
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Our benchmark tour, this 13-night itinerary covers the essential destinations in China. Our tours are limited to 20 people, VIP services are standard, and include such features as access to off-limits palaces in the Forbidden City, and more.
Upcoming Imperial Tours are April 14-27 and May 5-18. Both of these tours are guaranteed departure dates. Please see the Imperial Tour itinerary page for more 2009 dates.
Special in 2009: our July Imperial Tour will feature a unique Shanghai skyline breakfast-viewing of the longest Solar Eclipse for the next 130 years. For additional information on the eclipse, please click here.
Family Tour
Look at the photos below to choose a unique experience for your family!
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Our families explore landmarks at a pace that won't tire the young. The Family Tour's featured activities, such as Peking Opera-style face painting or a kungfu demonstration, will pique the adventurous, while optional spa treatment or shopping can delight any generation. Of course there is more to travel than just fun and games, and our family tour provides an excellent educational opportunity to learn about China.
This year's Family Tour begins on August 7, 2009. Find out more details on our Family Tour itinerary page.
For more information or availability on the above tours, Margot Kong in San Francisco is ready to take your questions.
In these uncertain times, it is reassuring to know that clients' funds are as safe as the US Fed. Imperial Tours together with many of its leading vendors, such as the St. Regis Hotel in Beijing and the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Shanghai, have participated in the Travel Funds Protection Plan (TFPP) operated by National City Bank since 2001. Recognized for its consumer protection benefits by ASTA and such strictly enforced Seller of Travel laws as that of California, TFPP can claim to be one of the most secure consumer protection plans in the world. 100% of clients' funds are deposited in separate escrow accounts – there is a separate account for each payee – and are held there until 5 days after the tour has finished. Whilst the funds are held, they are guaranteed in their entirety by the US Fed!
5 days after the tour has finished, on condition that all services were supplied, vendors are paid and the remainder of the funds pass into Imperial Tours' operating account. For further information on TFPP, please click here.
Imperial Tours invites you to play ping pong with the world's reigning Olympic and World champion Zhang Yining. Ms. Zhang, a 27 year-old Beijing native, caught the world's attention during the 1999 World Table Tennis Championship. Since then, she's been at the top of the sport and has won over 20 gold and silver medals. She has encountered stiff competition across the globe, but has yet to witness your nephew's "overhand double-cross-slam" that he perfected in the basement last summer.
Playing ping pong with the best of the best is an example of specialized activities we call "Imperial Moments." Imperial Tours can supplement any FIT itinerary with a variety of such unique experiences depending on your specific interests. Want to delve deeper into the Forbidden City? Why not explore it with a Sotheby's Expert. Trying to get into better health? What about a private Tai Chi lesson from a sixth-generation master.
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"Andy was the perfect China host, we really liked him hugely and he was endlessly thoughtful and interesting and took real care to ensure we got the most out of our time there." – Baroness Kate de Rothschild
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Looking for the perfect armoire? How about shopping with an antique dealer. Curious about doing business in China? Learn about the pitfalls from the first investment banker to come to China. Even when clients might have unusual requests, we'll do everything we can to accommodate them (In 2008 a guest was interested in nuclear power; and we arranged a tour of a rare pebble-bed facility for him!).
Because our operations are China-based, Imperial Tours has the insider-knowledge and flexibility that allows our guests more personalized experiences in China. For additional details on our special activities, feel free to contact Margot Kong in San Francisco or Kent Milne in Poole, England with your questions.
As the luxury market regains its foothold, China will be sure to extend its relevance as a destination for luxury travelers. Apart from the stunning organization of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, or the increasing significance of this industrious nation to the world economy, or the continous development of new destinations, better hotels and more sophisticated restaurants, there is the unchallenged value that China brings to the table.
If business is slow, why not use this time to learn more about China? If you haven't yet been on one of our FAM trips, treat yourself, surprise yourself, enjoy yourself.
Sending best regards,
Guy Rubin
Managing Partner of Imperial Tours
reported by Andrea Bennett
Trying to score that next-to-impossible reservation, find that undiscovered hotel, or want the details of your once-in-a-lifetime trip flawlessly choreographed? In an era of do-it-yourself Web-based research and booking, where travelers have unprecedented access to just about any destination on earth, expert advice is more important than ever. Which is why, on the following pages, we've tapped 128 super-agents who can solve your travel dilemmas. To narrow the list, we spoke with hundreds of agents and surveyed our favorites. When it came to delivering on special requests for clients, some interesting stories emerged: Ever wondered what it takes to arrange a private helicopter tour to a royal palace or how you convince a duchess to give up her house for a romantic proposal? Here, our favorite trip specialists share a few tricks of their trade-where they're sending clients, their secret sources, what's on their radar, and the dream trips they're longing to take themselves.
China Guy Rubin
Over the Top Request – Planning a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony for an American couple who wished to renew their marriage vows on the Great Wall, with musicians, lion dancers, a procession bearing the couple on a sedan chair, and a banquet. The bride was moved to tears for much of the event, which came off without a hitch. YEARS AS AN AGENT 9. Consulting Fee$100.* Imperial Tours, Beijing. 8610/844-7162 (or call U.S. Director of Sales Margot Kong at 888/888-1970));
*Fee included in trip cost
©September 2007 TRAVEL + LEISURE
Guy Rubin, Imperial Tours, Beijing There's no danger of being taken advantage of by the more pernicious elements of China's tourism machine when you're traveling with Imperial Tours: no dining in government-run restaurants: no shopping in sub-par state-run souvenir stores(most companies' guides get kickbacks for steering travelers to them).That's because all of Rubin's clients are accompanied by a local guide and a Western escort. Although any snags are ironed out immediately by your at-hand troubleshooter, this means that you're committed to travelling with an entourage – thus the steep price (888-888-1970; $2,100).
©Aug 2008 Condé Nast Traveler
GUY RUBIN – "Huang Shan, or Yellow Mountain, is in the province of Anhui, west of Shanghai. I first climbed it in late October. Clouds glided across the granite tusks; it was overwhelmingly beautiful. I later asked the contemporary artist Zheng Zai Dong why he had never painted the mountain. He shook his head. 'How could you be equal to the task?'" Rubin creates ultra-luxe itineraries for travelers in search of the trip of a lifetime (Imperial Tours; 888/888-1970; imperialtours.net).
©August 2008 TRAVEL + LEISURE
China has always been an intriguing destination, but the buzz accompanying the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics has pushed the country to the top of many travelers' wish lists. With an English-speaking staff split between San Francisco and Beijing. Imperial Tours specializes in creating Western-friendly tours that showcase parts of the country not easily accessible to first-time visitors. Honeymooners can enjoy a white-linen banquet on a secluded section of the Great Wall, float down the Li River past local fishermen and grazing water buffalo, or learn the art of silk making in the Suzhou district of Shanghai. The company offers a regular slate of itineraries (its latest addition is Yunan Province, near Tibet, where you can visit a remote township considered by many to be the fabled Shangri-la), but can also create custom agendas for couples or groups, always accompanied be a bilingual host. Private tours from $5,500 per person for a five-day trip.
© Jan 28, 2008 Destination Weddings & Honeymoons
China has always been an intriguing destination, but the buzz accompanying the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics has pushed the country to the top of many travelers' wish lists. With an English-speaking staff split between San Francisco and Beijing. Imperial Tours specializes in creating Western-friendly tours that showcase parts of the country not easily accessible to first-time visitors. Honeymooners can enjoy a white-linen banquet on a secluded section of the Great Wall, float down the Li River past local fishermen and grazing water buffalo, or learn the art of silk making in the Suzhou district of Shanghai. The company offers a regular slate of itineraries (its latest addition is Yunan Province, near Tibet, where you can visit a remote township considered by many to be the fabled Shangri-la), but can also create custom agendas for couples or groups, always accompanied be a bilingual host. Private tours from $5,500 per person for a five-day trip.
© Jan 28, 2008 Destination Weddings & Honeymoons
San Diego's Luxury Lifestyle Magazine Holiday Traditions
La Jollans Betsy and Scott McClendon also experienced special access and insider events when they visited China in April 2006.
"We were dreading being part of a tour," Besty told me, "but Imperial Tours enabled us to go behind the scenes and have extraordinary adventures."
"When we visited the Forbidden City in Beijing, our group was taken to a gate that led to a private section of grounds. Upon admittance to the Palace of Gathering Excellence, we were treated to sights that few other travelers see -including colorful ceramic tile work, marvelous gargoyles that indicate the status of the person who lived there, and windows covered in delicate silk."
A memorable meal took place on the grounds of the Hotel of Modern Art near Guilin. Here, in a spacious garden devoted to contemporary sculpture and outdoor art, each guest cools their own traditional hot pot lunch using individual woks.(www.relaischateaux.com)
After spending the night at HOMA, (Hotel of Modern Art) an exclusive Relais $ Chateaux boutique hotel, the McClendon's group floated down a rarely visited stretch of the Li River in two-person bamboo rafts. Larger tour boats clog other sections, but the Imperial Tours group only saw fisherman, cormorants, and the occasional water buffalo.
© November 2007 Ranch&Coast
Reported by Andrea Bennett
The agents listed the following pages know the world – and how to get those elusive upgrades, hard-to-score reservations, and seats on sold-out flights. We've interviewed hundreds of agents to pick the ones who always deliver. You'll find our 125 travel super-agents listed by area of specialization, with their dream trips included to inspire you to see the world. We also reveal some of the secrets they shared in completing our annual survey of agents, from favorite discoveries to destinations on the rise.
China Guy Rubin DREAM TRIP Stay at the Banyan Tree Ringha, located in a pristine Tibetan valley. Explore nearby villages to observer daily life, and visit the monasteries to be captivated by the timeless spiritual environment. YEARS AS AGENT 7. CONSULTING FEE $100. * Imperial Tours, Beijing; 8610/8440-7162(or call U.S. Director of Sales Margot Kong at 888-888-1970);web_inquiry@imperialtours.net
©September 2007 TRAVEL + LEISURE
