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Who We Are
Asia1on1.com and its subsidiary country websites (e.g. china1on1.com, hongkong1on1.com, mongolia1on1.com, etc.) are wholly owned by Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. (APTL) is a division of Middle West Enterprises, Ltd., wholly owned by Walter L. Keats, CTC, CMP. Mr. Keats co-founded the Mid-America China Exchange, Inc. in 1978 specializing in tours to the Peoples Republic of China and other Asian destinations. As the business continued to develop to other Asian countries, it became appropriate to use the name Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. for the non-China tours. All tours and travel arrangements have been sold under the Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. name since 1988. Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. is an upscale, wholesale tour operator specializing in first-class and deluxe travel to the Asia-Pacific area. Its clients come primarily through travel agents, approximately 80-90%. The remainder of its clients are retail customers booking directly, usually through word-of-mouth or its websites. The majority of clients are upscale (higher income), well-educated, well-traveled people and most often desiring individual arrangements in first-class or deluxe accommodations. They are normally very interested in the history, culture and food of the destinations they visit. Over the years, Asia Pacific Travel has arranged for 400 or more outbound passengers per year to travel to Asia. As a result of direct mail to selected travel agents, our toll-free “800” number, listings in various travel directories, and recommendations of travel agents, tourist offices, and satisfied customers, clients come from across North America and even from overseas . Group bookings come from agents as well as directly from organizations such as the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, the International Visitors Center of Chicago, the American Association of University Women, the Harvard Club of Chicago, and the National Council for U.S.-China Trade. Other custom private groups have consisted of 4-12 friends/couples wishing to travel together to an Asian destination, some being escorted personally by Mr. Keats and/or Ms. Lu. Over the years, Asia Pacific Travel has been fortunate to have many satisfied clients return for additional custom tours to other Asian destinations. From 1989-1996 Asia Pacific Travel was the Midwest Representative for the Macau Tourist Information Bureau and the U.S./Canadian Representative for the Macau Government Tourist Office in 1997. While representing Macau, APTL was responsible for the entire range of travel industry promotion, including travel agents, tour operators, and the MICE segment. It also served as the AACVB (Asian Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus) North American representative. APTL has been a member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) since 1987 as a tour operator member, and was active for over ten years in the East Asia Travel Association (later called the Asia Travel Marketing Association). Asia Pacific Travel continues to use technology to keep overhead as low as possible, thus providing “very good value for money” for its clients. This enables it to handle its national and international clientele with a staff of six persons located in Wilmette, Illinois, convenient for calls from most regions. Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. was originally located in Kenilworth, Illinois but moved to Wilmette, Illinois in 1991. Both towns are neighbors in the northern suburbs of Chicago. APTL Mailing address is: Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. P.O. Box 350 Kenilworth, IL 60043-0350 USA APTL Delivery/Shipping address is: Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. 2514 Laurel Ln. Wilmette, IL 60091-2230 USA APTL Contact Information is: Telephone: 1-847-251-6400 Toll-Free: 1-800-262-6420 Fax: 1-847-256-5601 Email: Please click on the "Contact Us" button at the top or the bottom of this page to email us. Principals: Walter L. Keats: Mr. Keats is the founder and President of Asia Pacific Travel. He is a graduate of Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois and a 1967 honors graduate of Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While at Harvard he majored in Social Anthropology and began his international travels. His early travels took him to Mexico, West Africa, Europe, Central America (where he spent almost two years in the Army as a junior officer stationed in the Panama Canal Zone), and finally to the South Pacific and Asia in 1972. He first visited China in 1975. He has visited every Asian country from Afghanistan eastward except Bhutan, Brunei and Sri Lanka. He has been to North Korea sixteen times starting in 1995, considerably more than any other American in the travel industry. Mr. Keats earned his Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) designation in 1988 and his Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation in 1990. He is or has been a member of the Skål Club of Chicago, the Association of Official Tourist Offices, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the China Roundtable of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. He has served in various capacities, including Chairman, for the East Asia Travel Association Central Regional Chapter, and has been or is a director or officer of the Midwest Chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, the Harvard Club of Chicago, the International Visitors Center of Chicago and the Mozart Society of Chicago. He is or has been the Marketing Coordinator for both the Central Regional and East Coast Chapters of the East Asia Travel Association (as of July 1, 1999 called the Asia Travel Marketing Association) made up of the tourist offices of Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand. Mr. Keats served on the governmental U.S.-Japan Tourism Export Expansion Initiative to promote increased tourism between the U.S. and Japan. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Geographic Society of Chicago and is a member of the Anthropology Alliance of the Field Museum of Chicago. Mr. Keats has visited forty-eight of the U.S. states and over seventy countries around the world, including almost every Asian country and many Pacific countries. For several years he taught the “Travel Geography of Asia” course at the College of DuPage, one of the largest travel schools in the U.S. In 1972, while on an eleven-month journey through Asia, he worked for the United Nations Relief Operation in the newly independent Bangladesh. He has also served as an escort officer for official visitors of the U.S. Department of State. He is fluent in Spanish with smatterings of various Asian languages. His hobbies include travel, photography and collecting handicrafts and paper money from around the world but particularly the Asian area. Winnie Wan-Er Lu: Ms. Lu is the Vice President of Asia Pacific Travel. She is a graduate of Shanghai No. 11 High School in Shanghai, PRC and attended Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to growing up in China, Ms. Lu’s travels have taken her to Mexico, Europe, and East and Southeast Asia. She has been actively involved in Asia Pacific Travel since 1982 focusing on travel to East and Southeast Asia. She has visited North Korea three times since 2002. Her hobbies include travel and cooking. Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. P.O. Box 350 Kenilworth, IL 60043-0350 USA Telephone: 1-847-251-6400 Toll-Free: 1-800-262-6420 Fax: 1-847-256-5601 Email: Please click on the "Contact Us" button at the top or the bottom of this page to email us. |
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