A TEESDALE entrepreneur’s company providing Mandarin-speaking guides for Chinese visitors to Britain has been named one of the country’s top tourism operators.
Beiwei 55, founded four years ago by 28-year-old former Teesdale School pupil Jay Smith of Barningham, won the Inbound Tourism Gold Award in VisitEngland’s 2018 Awards for Excellence after judges agreed it provided the highest quality service and most memorable experience for international visitors.
Beiwei 55, based in Newcastle and London, is the only UK tour operator offering Chinese visitors tours that are run and guided by native British Mandarin-speaking guides, giving them the best of both worlds – combining local knowledge and British insight with enjoyable, comfortable travel in their own language.
The company also provides professional Mandarin Chinese interpretation, translation and recruitment services for UK businesses and attractions who want to cater to incoming Chinese corporate guests and attract more Chinese business.
Mr Smith set up the company with former classmate Eve Baker after leaving Leeds University with a first-class degree in Chinese and working for a tourist organisation in China. It now employs five Mandarin-speaking guides offering tours all over Britain and has a 100 per cent five-star rating on TripAdvisor.
“We’re delighted to win the award for our work in welcoming Chinese tourists to the UK,” said Mr Smith. “Our native British Mandarin-speaking guides are unique, and we hope the award will help us grow to offer more Chinese visitors a local, authentic experience with a Mandarin-speaking Brit when visiting the UK.”
Half a million tourists from China visited Britain in 2017 and VisitEngland – formerly known as the English Tourist Board – says this country is one of the fastest-growing attractions for Chinese.
