Diverse might be an understatement to describe the range of businesses he was involved in during the early 1980s. They included trading of marine products, a Chinese restaurant, the manufacture of windows, working as a home decoration contractor, and exporting goods to the former Soviet Union.

Eventually, he returned to the business he had known best and founded EGL Tours with three partners in 1986. 'Entrepreneurship runs in my family,' he said. '[Through my involvement in the various businesses] I learned that I had to specialise and be focused.'

Mr Huen also learned to be optimistic, adaptable and to identify opportunities in times of crisis. EGL Tours started out as a land operator providing services for Hong Kong tour groups to Japan, organised by other travel agencies. The business was doing well 'until 1995 when a massive earthquake hit the Kansai region and a cult carried out the poison gas attack in a Tokyo underground station', he said.

Sales plummeted as the number of Hongkongers visiting Japan dropped. 'We had to make changes to survive and decided to forge ties with airlines, and began diversifying into retail by opening an outlet offering organised tours for Hong Kong people to Japan,' he said. The company also came up with an innovative business strategy of combining retail and wholesale. 'We worked with smaller agencies,' he said. 'They provided us [with] small groups of customers and we merged them into bigger tour groups.'

Mr Huen realised that the company could only sustain its business growth in the competitive travel sector by being a cut above the rest. The company discarded all vague and misleading information in tour brochures and sales tactics which were common practice in the tourism industry in the 1990s. 'We have won the trust of customers and established credibility by pioneering a fixed-price policy and delivering services exactly as promised in our brochures,' he said. 'For example, we state clearly the names of hotels and meal arrangements.'

The entire travel industry suffered a huge blow when Sars hit the region in 2003, but Mr Huen said he saw the crisis as an opportunity to strengthen team spirit. 'We did not downsize our workforce,' he said. 'In fact, we raised the basic salaries of our frontline staff because they did not get any commissions or tips in this period.'

After stabilising morale, EGL Tours began organising one-day local tours as a temporary tactic to generate more income.

'Even though we only charged each customer HK$88, the tour covered buffet breakfast at our headquarters and buffet lunch at hotels. We used the luxury coaches preferred by Japanese tourists,' Mr Huen said. 'Hotels and coach operators offered us competitive rates because few visitors came to Hong Kong [at that time].' At its peak, the company organised 24 local tours on a daily basis in May 2003. 'We were able to expand our customer base as many were impressed with our professionalism,' he said. 'They signed up for overseas tours when things were back to normal.'

Mr Huen attaches great importance to a thorough understanding of customers' needs and professionalism. 'We have aligned our comprehensive tour guide training programme with our corporate culture to ensure they put the customers first and treat them with respect and sincerity,' he added.

The company pays close attention to small details to ensure customers have an enjoyable experience. 'Tour guides are required to provide educational and fun information during the tour,' he said.

'All relevant information, including hotel room numbers and the itinerary for the following day, is detailed and distributed to individual group members before they check into the hotel. 'Our customers like wearing our badges because we have printed on the back in local languages: 'I'm lost, please help by calling this number'.'

Employing nearly 640 staff, EGL Tours organises tours for short- and long-haul destinations and in-bound local tours, and operates seven outlets in Hong Kong and Macau, and a call centre. It has just opened its headquarters occupying four floors of a commercial building in Kwun Tong.

The company has doubled the manpower at its call centre to 70. 'We see bright prospects for our call centre,' Mr Huen said.

'Business generated by our call centre is comparable to the sales of three to four outlets. To cater for younger consumers, we will deploy more resources to develop e-commerce.'

Ten things I know

1 Credibility We need to honour promises made to customers. We should establish our credibility and cultivate business relationships with partners and vendors based on mutual trust. This greatly facilitates long-term co-operation.

2 Continuous improvement Amid intense competition, we should constantly seek to upgrade services and to innovate. This not only applies to business expansion but also means we seek to further enhance the breadth and depth of our services.

3 Opportunity for staff development A forward-looking company should provide a platform for staff career development and establish a structured training programme to enhance the skill sets of staff and provide opportunities for their career advancement. Manpower is the most important asset in the travel industry. When we help our staff with their careers, we also benefit.

4 Drive for innovation A business needs to be creative in product development and management. To create surprises for customers and arouse their interest, we should come up with innovative solutions for new products or repackage existing products by adding more interesting elements.

5 Be observant Pay close attention to the latest market conditions. To stay ahead of the competition, we need to have a thorough understanding of what our competitors are doing and to be keenly aware of emerging opportunities so as to seize them and tap into new markets before others.

6 Be bold and courageous We should have the courage to try out different things and be ready to take on challenges.

7 Think positively We will be too pessimistic and lack the courage and drive to tackle any challenges if we do not look on the bright side of things. It is essential to think positively and be optimistic.

8 Perseverance When we face adversity and are under intense pressure, we should be persistent and this will pay off one day. Some things may be unpleasant in the beginning, we should learn to deal with them and turn them into a learning experience.

9 Attention to details We ensure the tour will be an enjoyable experience for our customers by paying close attention to small details in various aspects, including the design of the itineraries. They appreciate our thoughtfulness on small things as it shows that we care about their feelings.

10 Going the extra mile We should remember that our services do not stop when customers check into their hotel rooms. Our tour guides pay a brief visit to individual group members after they have settled in to their rooms to ensure their stay will be enjoyable.